The Soldier's Game
by Sgt.Sanman
Summary: You know what they say. Once a soldier, always a soldier. I thought I could get away from that bullshit of leading a Ranger squad in Afghanistan. When I was discharged from the US Army, I thought I would never have to lead a group to survive again. When Sword Art Online, a VRMMORPG released, I tried it out. When lives were being lost, I did what I always did. Rangers lead the way.
1. Link Start

_**Link Start**_

"Link start!" a voice breaks the silence of the cold, quiet apartment in Tokyo. The Japanese Rising Sun and American Stars and Stripes hung from the nearby wall. Outside, car horns and sirens sound throughout the metropolitan city. A window shows the view of a pond surrounded by a park with the sun rising to its right. Next to the window was a bed. On it, a figure laid down on the red mattress.

The male figure was clad in light brown combat fatigues with the patch representing the rank of sergeant major on his chest. He wore a NerveGear helmet on his head, lights blinking on the right temple. A light brown combat helmet rested on a table beside a glowing computer monitor. A pair of dog tags rested on his chest, rising and falling with each deep breath. On it read: "Hashimoto/Shijo/9276391/A."

That was me. My name is Shijo Hashimoto. I am 26 years old. When I was just a baby, my family moved from Japan to America, to Florida to be precise. When I graduated high school, I enlisted in the American Army. That explains why I was wearing a uniform and why I had an American flag hanging on my wall. I retired as at the rank of sergeant major, hence my patch on my chest. I actually was part of the Rangers. But enough about me. This is the story of my time in SAO.

I was transported to the world of Sword Art Online, the virtual MMORPG on the NerveGear. Today was the first day of its release and already five thousand people have logged into the game which took place on a flying castle in the sky called Aincrad.

I looked around, taking in all the immense beauty of the virtual world. I was in the Town of Beginnings, on the bottom floor of the castle on the clouds. There was a total of 100 floors. The castle itself was shaped like an upside down ice cream cone, with the size of the floors shrinking as you made your way to the top.

I noticed that I stood at the middle of a circular plaza, with a structure next to me. The structure looked like Big Ben from England with a brass bell on top. There was a rectangular platform where players can stand to teleport to other areas of Aincrad. There was a huge plaque on the platform. The platform itself had four obelisks standing at the corners.

The plaza itself was huge. I heard it was the largest plaza in the entire game. People were appearing as they spawned here. I also noticed that there was a huge black dome sticking out of the clear blue sky. That was the Black Iron Palace.

I've been here before. I was a beta tester when the beta was out. And to be honest, most of the beta testers didn't know jack shit about RPGs. There was only one dude who made it to the eighth floor. Was his name Kiraco? Hell, I dunno. I've only made it to the third floor myself.

Anyways, I walked around the Town of Beginnings. I walked past stores and stands selling weapons and healing items. That oughta be useful. I must've been walking around for hours because the sun started to set, it's golden rays shining.

I stopped to take a look at my reflection on the glass pane. My avatar is different from what I looked like back in the real world. Here, I was a tall and buff man with short brown hair on a light brown head. My face was shaped like a box, with a wicked looking scar across my left eye. I had a huge mouth and a face of a hardened veteran, which I was in the real world. I was wearing a desert brown sweater with a steel breastplate, wearing it like a bra. I was wearing a pair of dark brown cloth pants. I had a short sword strapped on my back.

I stood there for maybe a couple minutes. I was lost in a gaze until I felt someone tapping on my shoulder.

I turned around and saw a beautiful woman standing in front of me. And I mean gorgeous. I probably had to resist the urge to ask her out. She had brown and wavy hair flowing over her shoulders. Her freckles looking like small, brown polka dots on her rosy perfect cheeks. I looked down and just lost it. Long story short, girl got curves. She wore something that looked like my attire, except that her dress was red and she wore a skirt of the same color. She wore brown, knee-high boots.

"Hi." said the woman. She sounded like an angel from heaven. _Calm down Shi._ I told myself, _F_ _or all I know, she could be a he._

"Hello." I squeaked. _Did I just fucking squeak?_ I cleared my throat and tried again. "Hey." I said as deep and confident as I can. I can feel myself turning red with embarrassment.

"Can you help me? I'm trying to find the log out button, but I think it's missing." she asked.

"Uh huh." I said, staring in her almond shaped eyes. Her light brown eyes shimmering in the setting sun.

 _Wait, setting sun? What time is it?_ I asked myself. I opened my menu really quick, the white interface appearing in front of me. The analog said 1700. I set my clock settings to military time, so it's five in the afternoon.

"What do you need help with again?" I asked the woman, completely forgetting what she had asked me.

"I can't find the log out button." she answered.

"Whaddya mean?" I asked, totally puzzled. She opened her menu and scrolled all the way down. The button that was supposed to log players out of the game and out of the NerveGear helmet was gone. It was just a blank slate. I scrolled down my menu and I saw the same problem.

"Huh. Probably just a bug. The devs are probably gonna fix it in a couple hours." I calmly explained.

"Really? I wanna get out now." she said, sounding a little worried.

"Relax, ma'am. This game is new and people are still working out the kinks." I assured, "Don't worry miss..."

"Naomi." she finished my sentence. Her name was Naomi. Well, at least her avatar name.

"Miss Naomi." I said. "Please, just call me Naomi." the woman named Naomi said, smiling.

"Well, nice to meet ya. I'm Shi." I said, holding my hand out towards her. She took it and shook it.

My name in this world was Shi. People wouldn't use their own names as their username, right? It's like giving away your information to strangers. Anyways, my friends in the Army called me Shi. They got Shi from Shijo. Sergeant Shijo "Shi" Hashimoto. Get it? Shi, Shijo? Play on words. I'm rambling, aren't I?

"Hey, do you feel a weird, tingling sensation?" I asked. My entire body felt like it was being tickled.

"Yeah," she said, "I do. Is that nor-"

The next thing I knew, we were teleported back to the plaza. _Someone forced teleported us here?_

I looked around and I saw Naomi standing next to me. All of the players have been teleported to the plaza. "Shi." she called out. "What the hell?" I asked myself. "Look." she pointed at the sky. A red hexagon floated in the sky. The hexagon multiplied into thousands, creating a dome around the plaza.

"The sky's bleeding." I nervously joked, watching the "blood" trickling from the sky form into a large red figure of a robed, faceless man.

"I am Kayaba Akihiko," the voice boomed, "the creator of SAO and a developer of NerveGear.

"You may have noticed that the log out button is missing from the menu. I can assure you that is not a bug. I've removed it from the menu deliberately. You are all my slaves and I own you all. If any person tries to remove your NerveGear... let's just say that you die. Already, two hundred and thirteen people have died from this. The only way out is to work your way to the one hundredth floor and beat the final boss. And if you die in here, you die in real life.

"Oh, and I've put a little gift in your inventory. Go ahead and take a look for yourselves." the robed man said.

I opened my inventory and clicked on the one thing there. The item then appeared in front of me. It was a hand mirror. I looked at Naomi, who was also holding a mirror. A flash momentarily blinded me.

When I blinked the stars out of my eyes, I looked at my mirror and saw myself. But it wasn't my avatar, it was myself. My actual self. I was still pretty tall and muscular, but my face was different. The scar across my eye was gone and I looked a little younger than my avatar. I had a small chin jutting out of my head. My eyebrows looked a little thick, but not too thick. I didn't look really bad in real life, but I wasn't what you would call Mr. Perfect. I looked towards to where I last saw Naomi.

She didn't really change. She was a little shorter, probably at chin level at best. _Least she still got her curves... I'm an asshole._ Her face didn't really change, except for her hair. It was still wavy, but it was blond instead of brown. _Blond! Even better!_ is what I would've thought if I didn't just find out that I could die at any moment.

"And to you I bid thee good morrow!" Akihiko said, his voice echoing through the plaza. His body dissolved into nothing, the red hexagons that covered the skies were cleared. Nothing could be heard, only the eerie whisper of the wind.

It was like that for about a minute or two. Everyone stared at each other as if they were the ones who were gonna save them. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Suddenly, like a flock of birds startled at a toddler running at them, panic ensues. Cries and screams of people who want out pierce the silence. Many people ran every which way, threatening to stampede over Naomi and I.

"Follow me!" I grab Naomi's hand and pulled her out of harms way. I led on with Naomi following nearby to a small alleyway. The panicking people mostly stayed over at the plaza.

"Okay, we're safe." I said, panting and out of breath.

"What do you mean 'we're safe'?" Naomi growled, sounding slightly pissed.

"Calm down, you're still processing things." I said, holding my hands up as if I'm telling her to be steady.

"We're gonna die! If we get killed here, we get killed there!" she said, clearly pissed, "How are you telling me to calm down!" _This is not working. How am I gonna calm her down?_

"Trust me, we're staying alive. I promise I'll get us out of this." I said, sounding determined. I didn't get killed over in Afghanistan, I wasn't gonna let a measly game kill me. A game that could kill me in an instant. One where if I die in here, I die in real life. I'm now starting to get scared. I started to fully grasp the situation. _What do I do?_

"Come one Shi. You're a soldier for fucks sake. You're a Ranger. Rangers lead the way." I silently reminded myself of who I was. I reminded myself of the Rangers motto. Rangers lead the way. Lead the way. _That's it! I'll lead Naomi and whoever joins up with us! I watch her ass, she watches mine. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get outta this shitstorm._

"Come with me to the next town over. There's nothing much here for us anyways." I proposed. We stood there for about 30 seconds, Naomi still thinking things over.

After what felt like a while, Naomi broke the silence, "Okay. I'm going with you. I trust you."

 _She trusts me. We've only met today and she already trusts me._ I smiled and she smiled back. Seeing her smile made me feel like I was already outta here, already outta this shithole. She made me feel at peace.

 _Shi, we still have a game to beat._

 **One month later, Tolbana**

It's been one month. One fucking month. Already, 2,000 players have lost their lives this cruel mistress we call SAO. Twenty percent of people have died, yet we haven't gotten anywhere close to beating the game. We're still only on floor one. Floor fucking one. Morale is lower than a bomb crater. At the rate we're going, we'll all die before the tenth floor. No one knows where the goddamn floor boss is. 8,000 lives are still stuck in this fucking game.

Naomi and I walked through the streets of Tolbana. I wore a light brown scarf that I found from a monster drop over my mouth and a two handed longsword on my back. Naomi had her one handed sword in its sheath on her belt. "Hey, Naomi?" I said.

"Yeah?" she answered, looking at me. The streets we walked through were almost dead silent. No one wanted to try and beat the game. They just wanted to live, even if they had to live in this world.

"If we get the chance to be on the frontlines, to risk our lives to get everyone the hell outta here, would you do it?"

Naomi just stared at me, as if she was still thinking about it. Just then, someone interrupted us. "Hey, you two!" the guy called out, "There's a meeting at the ampitheater if you guys wanna go!"

I turned to look at him. There was a man standing across the street. "You talking to us?" I asked. "

Yeah. If you wanna go to the meeting, go over there." he told us, pointing towards the ampitheater. I looked back to Naomi.

"You wanna check it out?" I asked.

"Do we have a choice?" she replied.

Many people were sitting down in the seating area, which was raised above the ampitheater. The place looked like a pit. The center was at the bottom and the seating area stretched outwards and upwards. We took our seats in the back. At the ampitheater below, a man in armor and blue hair stood there.

"My name is Diavel, and I'm a knight." he said to the people at the ampitheater.

"There's no job systems in the game!" one player called out. The rest of the people laughed. I laughed too. I haven't had anything to laugh at in a while, so this felt really good.

"Okay, okay, settle down now." he calmed down the players. "Now," he continued, "on to the meeting. We have received intel on the boss room. And by intel, I mean that we've found it." The place suddenly got serious. "If my intel is solid, we will be fighting Illfang the Kobold Lord.

"I am calling you to fight alongside me, to help beat this floor. To get the people to believe that they can win this fight!" The people cheered. I looked behind me. There was a boy, maybe 13-ish, sitting next to a robed figure. _Wait, is that him?_ It was that kid who made it to floor 8 in the beta. I don't remember his name though.

"This boss is not the type of boss where we can all hit it all together. He will have minions protecting him. This boss not the type of boss you could just swarm. That's why I'm telling you to get yourselves into groups. Preferably around six per group."

Everyone went to party up. I partied up with Naomi, but no one else would join our group. _Fantastic. It's like the playground at elementary school._ I was that odd man out when I was a kid. Everyone now sat in their respective parties.

"Wait!" a voice called out amongst the crowd. One man stood up and ran up to Diavel. "My name is Kibaou and some people here owe us an apology!" he demanded. He had light brown, spiky hair and a small spot of a beard on his chin.

"An apology?" Naomi asked, clearly confused.

"Who needs it and for what?" someone else called out.

"Beta testers did not help out us beginners and instead taking all the easy quests and hunting grounds for themselves!" he yelled.

I tensed up. Beta testers? Like I said, most testers were retarded dumbfucks who couldn't get past the first floor. How dare he had the nerve to call us practically cowards. "I bet that there are some beta testers here with us right now! We should make them give up all their money and equipment to us!" he demanded.

Naomi put her hand on my shoulder and I relaxed a little. "Hey, it's okay. I know you're trying your best." she assured me.

One man rose. The guy was huge. And I mean huge. The man walked up to the Kibaou dude. He basically towered over him. He was a huge muscular man with a huge wicked axe to go with his look slung on his back. He was a dark skinned man with a tough guy look. I'd like to have him in my party. "My name is Agil," he called out, "and beta testers did help us. If you look at your inventory, you'll see a little book there."

He pulled out a book from his inventory. "It was a guide. Written by the beta testers. It tells us what to do and what not to do. It even had some information on the bosses. So if you say that the testers did not help, you're wrong." he said. Kibaou looked away, clearly defeated. He sat back down. "You can continue now." Agil told Diavel.

"Okay! Let's talk strategy!" he called out. Finally, something I'm good at. I commanded a nine man squad when I was in Afghanistan and I played quarterback in high school. "Does anyone have any ideas?" he announced.

Naomi tapped on my shoulder. I looked towards her. "To answer your question," she said, "I would risk my life on the frontlines. I would do for the people here... and I would do it for you." The world around me turned silent. Did she say she would give my life for me? For me? I smiled on the inside. Finally I knew what to do.

I stood up. "Hey, come on down here man!" he waved towards me. I eagerly walked down to Diavel with Naomi beside me.

"Hey," I said while shaking Diavel's hand, "I'm Shi."

"Good to meet you Shi, I'm Diavel." the "knight" said, "So who's in your party?"

"Just me and Naomi." I said, pointing my thumb towards Naomi. Naomi smiled and waved.

"Just her?" Diavel looked confused.

"No one really wanted to join our party." I said, grinning.

"So, how can I help?" I asked. "Well, I do need an assistant for coordinating the fight." Diavel said.

"You got your man." I said confidently.

"I need to know if you are capable of these lives. I need to know I can put them in your hands." Diavel explained.

"Like I said, you got your man." I said.

"Have you ever had a life in your hands?" Diavel pressured me.

"Yes I have." I said, "Multiple lives. I was an American Army Ranger. I saw combat in Afghanistan. I led a squad at one point. I've been there, in the fight for our lives. I've killed and seen people on both sides be killed." It was true. I have seen the bloodiest battles in the region. I've lost some friends in the process. I just don't wanna lose anymore. This ain't Afghanistan and I'm outta the Army, but I can still lead the men in front of me.

Rangers lead the way.

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 **A/N: Hello guys! This is my first SAO story and my first time trying to do a story in first person. I actually found out that doing first person is much easier. If you have any comments, please tell me in the reviews. Please be nice as well. If any of you are interested, check out my story on Gate: J** **ieitai Kanochi Nite Kaku Tatakaeri called The Captain. Anyways, I bid you adieu!**

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 **A/N: Just a small fix. Instead of stage, I changed it to ampitheater. Small mistake on my part. 7/31**

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 **A/N: Another small fix. Just changed some data in the dog tags. I found out that the last line is supposed to tell people what blood type. Just paying attention to detail. 9/9**

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 **A/N: Grammar fixes. 10/11**


	2. Old Habits Die Hard

_**Old Habits Die Hard**_

"Attack!" yelled Diavel. Multiple people charge the boss and his minions head on. I charged on the right flank with Naomi. Her and I were ordered to go around the boss and attack from its back.

The hall was big. Marble floors and columns shine amongst the psychedelic looking walls. My job was to look for weaknesses from Illfang. The boss itself looked like a giant, blood red-furred pot bellied dog wielding a bone club and a round wooden shield. I blocked all attacks with my two-handed longsword while Naomi slashed and hacked at the boss. Half of the raid group made up of about 7 squads engaged the three sentinels while the other squads attacked fatass over here.

I slashed and hacked as well when the three other squads kept the dog occupied. "Die, you goddamned dickwipe!" I yelled as I thrust my sword into it's back. My sword glowed as I activated sword skill after sword skill.

We got the dog on the ropes, its health bar above it dropping into the red zone. If something is on low health, the health bar turns red. Everyone started to back up towards Diavel, who was commanding his troops on the rear.

I ran towards Diavel with Naomi on my six. "He's low health! We should keep attacking!" Naomi yelled amidst the chaos. "No, don't! Bosses in RPGs would usually change attack patterns when on low health!" I responded. I couldn't tell if she was disappointed about not finishing this once and for all. Or if she's pissed at me because she thinks she just missed her chance to take the thing down. Or both.

"Diavel!" I shouted, "Get the fuck over here! His attack pattern will change and we need to see how he fights!"

"No! Stand back! I got this!" he yelled back to us and his troops. He charged right to the front of the line, his sword glowing as he activated a skill. Just then, the boss roared, throwing away his club and shield and reached behind his back and pulled out his sword.

 _Fuck! Our intel was off!_ His sword is not a Talwar as we were expecting, but a Nodachi. It's longer, so it has more reach and damage. "Get the fuck away from it!" I tried to yell, but I couldn't find my voice.

The boss jumped around, climbing on the columns until making a dive towards Diavel. His body was thrown about 10 feet off the ground. The boss swung his massive sword at Diavel, who was unable to deflect what was coming for him. "Man down! Man down! Diavel's hit! We need a goddamned medic here!" I yelled. The kid that I saw from the stage ran over to help Diavel.

And then, he came for us. We ran away, scared for our lives. "Oh shit!" I yelled. I ran with Naomi beside me. Then, his Nodachi hit the ground below us and we flew off our feet.

We landed next to each other. I looked towards Diavel, but he was nowhere to be seen. All I saw was the kid crouching next to where I had seen Diavel's body last. I turned my head towards Naomi, tears coming out of her eyes. "He's dead." I told her and she started to cry.

"I...I don't wanna die!" she cried, tears streaming from her eyes down onto her cheeks. I moved my arm and draped it around her, trying to get her to stop crying. We still have a battle to fight. That was when I saw the kid and his partner attacking the giant killer.

They charged the giant. The kid and his hooded partner attacked with their swords. The hooded figure tried to dodge a swing from the boss, but somewhat failed. Her hood came off, revealing a young girl with long light brown hair wielding a rapier. She stabbed and stabbed the boss with her blade, the sword traveling so fast I couldn't keep up. Naomi and I watched in amazement as they battled it out with the boss. _Holy shit, they might actually do it!_

Squish. The kid has been hit, his body being thrown back. The girl was hit by the flying body. They both lived, but they're not out of the mess yet. When they were trying to recover, the boss raised his sword to swing his finishing blow. As it came down, something deflected it, sparks coming off of the blades. It was Agil. He blocked the attack with his axe. Just then, I remembered that I would lead the rest of our forces in the battle if something happened to Diavel.

"Alright men! Go go go!" I commanded. Our forces surged forward, attacking the big dog at the same time. I slashed and hacked again, with Naomi now blocking all the blows intended for the two of us. Glowing blades dig into the dog's flesh.

Just then, with one big swipe, the boss thrown us into the air. It leaped up into the air, its glowing blade about to do a downward strike to us.

The kid intercepted it, the limp body of the boss hitting the ground with a loud boom. Smoke rose from the ground where the boss hit the ground. Him and the girl charged the boss one last time as it tried to get back up. Just like that, it was all over. The boss was dead. The battle was won.

The men cheered. A long battle has been won. I smiled. Naomi turned to me and hugged me. "Uh, Naomi? I can't breathe." I squeaked as she squeezed me. "We did it! We did it! We got past floor one!" she exclaimed in excitement. I haven't seen her this excited since, like, never. I hugged her back. "I'm so happy I could kiss you right now!" I blurted out. "What?" she said, killing the mood.

"Why?" a voice rang out. It was Kibaou. He and his squad were in the back. Kibaou sitting on the ground. "Why did you do it? Huh? Why did you let Diavel die?

"You knew what the boss was going to do the second he threw his club and shield away. You could have told us. He wouldn't have died." he said. I leaned against a nearby column. Naomi watched this clusterfuck unfold.

"I know why!" one man exclaimed, "He used to be a beta tester! He knew, but he kept it from us." _Son of a bitch. Pulling that beta tester shit?_ I wanted to punch that guy, but I checked my anger. "There's gotta be other beta testers here. Come out! Show yourselves!" he yelled. I tensed up. The entire hall was silent. Dead silent. I shifted uncomfortably.

The kid started to laugh. It wasn't from excitement, but from horror. I felt the fear in his voice, but no one probably heard it. He was putting on an act of bravado. "So you guys thought I was a beta tester. It's not cool that you put me in the same class as those noobs. Most of the thousand players in the beta were rookies who didn't even know how to level up. Hell, even you guys were better then they were." he said, "But me, I'm nothing like those guys. I have leveled up, made it higher than anyone else in the beta. I knew the attack patterns. I know a lot of other things as well."

"Wh- what the hell?" Kibaou said, "If that's true, you're worse than a beta tester. You're a fucking cheater! That's what you are!" Everyone agreed. "He's a beater!" someone in the crowd yelled out.

"A beater. Yeah, that's good. I like it. I'm a beater." the kid said, opening his inventory and equipped the bonus item he got from the boss as a final attack bonus, "Just don't confuse me with those beta testers." The item appered on his body. It was a midnight black coat. He walked off towards the stairwell at the end of the hall. His partner chased after him.

"Who else here is a beta tester?" Kibaou yelled. That's it. He's done it. I walked over to Kibaou, who was standing up now. I came over to him and socked him in the jaw. His body fell, a red mark on his cheek. I turned and faced the crowd. "My name is Sergeant Major Shijo Hashimoto of the US Army Rangers. And I am a beta tester."

 **The next night, Tolbana**

When everyone found out I was a beta tester, no one wanted to talk to me except Naomi. I sat at the bar of a tavern in Tolbana. I took another sip of my fifth glass of whatever passes as alcohol here. Naomi was with me, but we didn't talk. I kept going back to when Diavel died. Everytime I saw his face, I saw another one as well.

My mind kept going back to Afghanistan. That scene kept replaying in my mind. I saw him. I saw my best friend. I saw my squad, pinned down in a ditch and under fire from sniper and machine gun fire from the rocks ahead. I saw burning Humvees and dead bodies on the road behind me. The sound of gunfire and explosions from RPGs and grenades rang in my ears.

I saw my best friend standing up to fire back. I saw his blood and brains bursting from his head by the first sniper. I heard the meaty thud of the second sniper bullet hitting his neck after he got hit in the forehead. I saw his head popping off his neck from the force of the bullet. He was dead before he hit the ground.

I haven't noticed that I was crying until Naomi put her arms around me. "It's okay, Shi." she said, "I'm with you wherever you go." I tucked my head into her shoulders and just let loose. Every soldier has his breaking point. This was mine.

I guess that's what makes us more human than machine or monster. I smiled, knowing that there was someone I could turn to. I think I know why I was put on this earth. I was here to lead people to safety and freedom. To peace.

We walked out of the bar, just looking for something to do. "Let's go hunting." Naomi suggested. "That sounds like a good idea. We'll join up with the frontlines when we get to a high enough level." I said. "We don't have to level up to be on the front lines. We got you as our battle strategist." she told me.

"Okay, but I wanna get a new weapon other than this sword I got." I said, unsheathing my sword that was on my back. "What kind of weapon do you have in mind?" she asked. "I was thinking of a small axe. Ya know, like a tomahawk." I said, hoping to get something like that tomahawk that the Assassins Creed 3 main character uses.

"Well, let's just get to it." she said, leading the way.

We made our way to the hunting grounds just five minutes north of Tolbana. Around us, night has already fallen where we were at. We walked in a green, hilly field with a couple rocks jutting out of the ground. A couple trees dot the hills as well. The full moon and stars lit the night sky.

"Hey Shi?" Naomi asked, "You have seen combat, right? You said that you were a Sergeant Major." A cold breeze blew over the grass. "Yes I have. Served under the Rangers." I said. "What is it like, putting your life on the line?" she asked. I froze. I felt myself turning white. We were silent for a while. "You get used to it." I finally said.

A scream was heard, cutting the utterly painful silence. "The fuck was that?" I asked. "I dunno. But someone's in trouble." Naomi said. "Yeah. Let's see what the hell is going on." I suggested.

We ran towards where the sound was. When we crested a hill, we saw four figures below. Two of them were robed. "No don't kill us!" one woman cried out. I saw one man who was next to the red haired woman, a sword stuck through his gut.

Being the soldier that I am, I pulled out my blade and ran over to help.

I engaged the one who still had his weapon. I slashed and hacked, but he blocked all my shots. He then tried to stab me. His stab hit. The sword found its mark. Shunk! The blade went through my stomach and out the back. The dude let go of his blade and jumped back. "So, do you want this back or..." I nervously joked. To be honest, I was scared outta my mind. I could feel my soul being ripped from my body as my HP gauge slowly diminished.

But my ploy worked. The two ran away. I pulled the blade out and tossed it aside. I quickly checked my health bar that was on the top left side of my HUD. Naomi's health bar was right below mine. My bar was in the red. That means that I'm almost dead. _Oh shit, that was close_. I shook off the thought of dying. I then came over to help the hurt guy.

I slid over to the prone body who had a blade in his gut. I attempted to grab the sword hilt, but when I was about to grasp it, the sword disappeared. His body just glowed and fragmented until he disappeared the same way the sword did. "Fuck!" I yelled. He's dead. The woman who was with him started crying. Naomi caught up to us and comforted the woman.

Her wails cut through the silence like a dagger. The world around me froze. I found myself back in Afghanistan again. Back in that ditch. I saw everything in slow motion. Seeing bullets whizzing past. Seeing his body twitch before hit the ground hard.

Like the breeze in the night, they appeared. Ten more robed figures appeared in front of us. Holy shit, these guys won't leave us alone, will they?

My health is low, but if we all ran, those guys might outrun us and kill us all. I had to think of something. _C'mon Shi! Think!_ Suddenly I knew what to do. I was going to have to stand my ground.

"Naomi, go! Get her outta here!" I barked. "What about you?" she asked in a worried tone. "Don't worry about me! Go!" I yelled. The soldier inside me kicked into action. If I kept these fuckers occupied, Naomi and the woman could get outta here. I know I'm low on health, but what other options do we have? Besides, I'm a motherfuckin' Ranger. And you know what we say.

Rangers lead the way.

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 **A/N: Hey guys! This chapter is a little shorter than I expected, but quality over quantity I guess. I wonder how Shijo is supposed to get out of this mess. And what about that woman that Naomi saved? Will she join Shi's party or stay solo? Stay tuned to know what happens next. To those readers out there, keep reading. This is Sanman signing off for now. See ya!**

* * *

 **A/N: Small mistake. I had Naomi say that Shi was a staff sergeant instead of a sergeant major. Rookie mistake. 8/6**

* * *

 **10/3: I just noticed that I put "the Agil" on accident.**


	3. Miya

_**Miya**_

The two women ran away. _Crap, I'm really doing this?_ One guy swung his blade, but I blocked it. We stood there, our blades locked together. Another guy tried to flank around my left side and stab me from the back. "Hey, watch out!" someone yelled. That someone blocked the attacker's sword. Clang! The sound of steel against steel droned as swords clashed.

I jumped back and saw who saved me. It was the kid, still in his black coat. He charged right into the fray, slashing and hacking at anyone who tried to harm the two of us. He was almost overrun by the guys. I decided to help him.

I charged back into the fray, stabbing and slashing at anyone who threatened me or the kid. I ducked from someone who tried to swing his axe at me. He left himself wide open and I took the opportunity. I stabbed him. I dug the sword into his gut and pushed. His body then disappeared.

I've killed a man. I didn't feel bad or anything. I understood that it was either him or me. But, I still have killed. The status crystal next to my health bar turned orange, notifying anyone who sees it that I've done a crime.

"Go! Get outta here! I'll hold them off!" the kid commanded. "O-Okay!" I started running away. I ran as fast as I can.

 **Five minutes later, back in Tolbana**

I sat on a bench in the central plaza. I sucked in another gulp of air. Exhausted, I sat back. I didn't know where the hell Naomi and the other woman is, but I'm not worried. If they made into the settlement (and knowing Naomi, she'd be here somewhere), they're safe. No one can kill in a safe zone. And I know Naomi. She could hold on her own. She can handle herself. _But those... t_ _hose assholes. They just murdered that guy._

Someone sat next to me. It was the kid.

"Hey, thanks for the save over there." I said. "No need." the kid sat back onto the bench. "I saw you go to up to the second floor." I said. "Yeah, but I came back down here to deal with those guys." he explained, "They were a group who were killing innocent strangers. Some of the guys on the assault team asked me to take care of it."

"Well, that used to be my job back in the real world." I said. "So you're used to it, huh?" the kid replied. "Yeah. I've seen stuff other people wish they hadn't." I said, staring off into space. I kept seeing my best friend dying, as if someone put that memory on a loop. What the hell's wrong with me?

"Oh how rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself." I said abruptly, shaking the thought away, "Name's Shi." I stretched my arm out to him. "Kirito." the kid said, shaking my hand. His name is Kirito. "You were in the beta, right?" I asked. "Yeah. I got to floor eight." Kirito grinned. "Well, I wasn't like most beta testers myself. I got to floor three." I bragged. "I guess you did alright then." he said.

"Anyways, I should go find my friend. I tried to hold those guys back for a bit to cover her retreat. You know, in case they chase after her." I said, standing up. Kirito stood up as well. He wasn't as tall as me. Naomi might have been taller than Kirito here. He adjusted his jet black hair. "You don't have to. Just go to your friends list and you could track her from there. You can even message her." Kirito told me.

I did the gesture that opened my menu. I clicked onto my friends list and saw Naomi's name. I tapped on her name and saw a map open up on the menu. I zoomed in on Tolbana and saw a yellow blip on the screen. It was on the eastern quadrant of the village. "Hey, got her." I said to Kirito. "Great. I'll follow you." he replied.

"Anyways, while I'm in this menu, might as well add you." I suggested. Kirito seemed to think about it for a little bit until saying yes. I typed his name in the bar that was on the top of the menu and added him. A friend request message then popped up in front of Kirito. He tapped on the blue check mark that accepted the request. "Alright, let's go." we started on our way.

We ran to where the blip was. I ran and ran until I got to where I last saw the marker, my boots clacking on the cobblestone streets. We ended up in a long alleyway. She was nowhere in sight. "Where is she?" I asked, a tone of nervousness crept into my voice. _She could hold her own. Calm down Shi_

"Open it up again." Kirito stood next to me. I opened up the map again. I saw that the blip moved into one of the nearby buildings. "She's in one of the inns." I guessed. "Alright. I'll take you there." Kirito told me. He started walking towards the inn. I followed in.

The orange glow of the candles in the inn made the place feel like home. A reception desk was to my right and some benches to my left. I walked over to the NPC woman manning the desk. "Hello sir. How may I help you?" she asked. "Yeah. Um, I'm looking for a player by the name of Naomi? Is she's here?" I told the NPC. "Yes. She is in room one upstairs." the NPC reported. I thanked her and made my way to the stairs. "C'mon." I beckoned Kirito. He followed me and I jogged upstairs to the room.

I knocked on the wooden door that had a number one on it. "Hey Naomi? It's me Shi." I called into the other room. "Come in! It's open!" a familiar voice sounded from inside. I opened the door and saw the woman and Naomi sitting on the bed. The woman's straight dark red hair flowed over her shoulders. She looked like she was young, like around fifteen. Nearby, a vase with a rose sat on the small round table that stood next to the foot of the bed. The lamp on the table and a couple candles lit the room.

"Oh Naomi." I laughed, running up to Naomi and gave her a big hug. "I thought I lost you." I cried tears of joy. Naomi hugged me back. "Remember, I'll always be here for you." she chuckled. I smiled, my worries in this world slowly diminishing. When I hugged her, time seemed irrelevant. It just felt like her and I. No one else.

I released my bear hug after a minute or two. I turned to the woman, her straight dark ginger hair glimmering in the candlelight. I smiled at her, she smiled back. "Shi, this is Miya." Naomi introduced us to each other, "Miya, meet Shi."

"Nice to meet ya." I said, winking. "Nice to meet you too." Miya smiled, "Naomi here told me all about you." I could feel myself turning red from embarrassment. _Damn Shi. You've faced death before. Why are you nervous now?_ "She did?" I squeaked, scratching my head. "Yeah. She did." Miya replied. "Wh- what did she say?" I stuttered.

"She told me that you are a sergeant back in the States." Miya said, snapping a loose salute. "Staff sergeant, ma'am." I returned the salute. "Please, just call me Miya."

"Oh yeah. This guy right here," I pointed towards Kirito, "saved my rear end from those guys. I barely had any health and was in a bind, but he got me out of it." Kirito just smiled and waved. "So anyways, about that guy. You're friend." I said, the room seemed to turn serious. "He was my boyfriend. We logged in together once we got the game. When we found out that we needed to beat the final boss to get outta here, we tried to work hard to level up by hunting. And tonight... you know the rest." Miya explained.

"Listen, I know how that feels. Losing your best friend. It hurts, especially if you see him die right in front of you." I stared off into space. My mind went back to Afghanistan again. Naomi stood up and put her arm around me. I snapped back to reality.

"Wait, aren't you that beta tester from the boss room?" Naomi asked. "Beta tester?" Miya said, a sort of angry tone creeping into her voice. _Oh shit. Please don't tell me that she believes that crap._

I tensed up. The room suddenly felt smaller. "Who here is a beta tester?" she asked. I could tell she was pissed as hell now. Kirito shifted unconfortably before saying "I am a beta tester." _Uh oh._

"You?" she pointed at Kirito. _Ah crap. Might as well. Can't leave a homie hanging._ I raised my right hand and said "I'm a beta tester as well." A disgusted look stained Miya's face. She looked above my head and saw my status crystal. The one that notifies everyone that I did a crime. "Shi?" Naomi asked, "What's this?" I looked at my health bar and saw the orange crystal.

 _Y_ _ou know what? Fuck it._ "I've... I've killed someone." I said with a sigh. Miya covered her mouth in horrified shock. Naomi just stared at me. "I was gonna be killed. It was either him or me." I tried to explain. "But why?" Naomi exclaimed, "You could have just left. You didn't have to take another man's life."

"Do I have to explain myself? I was just protecting myself and Kirito here! If I didn't kill him, he might've gotten the two of us!" I argued. "But you took another man's life! That's not right!" Naomi angrily seethed. "I couldn't just let that guy go! He could've killed more people if I did!" I snapped. _I've dealt with this before._ I was called a baby killer and murderer after my deployment in Afghanistan. People looked at me as if I was just another psychopath. I can't just let Naomi do this.

"Well, just so you know, I have done this before. I have killed people before coming here. Because in those situations, it's kill or be killed." I tried to calmly explain again. But they couldn't understand. Naomi just gave me a disgusted look.

Miya just ran out of the room, her head in her hands. I looked towards Naomi. She just stood up and followed Miya, avoiding my gaze. "Naomi wait!" I called out to her. She ignored me and kept walking. I looked towards Kirito.

"Don't worry." Kirito assured me, "You're a soldier. It's part of the job." He put his hand on my shoulder. I've killed before, but damn this sucks. "What should I do?" I asked Kirito. _Wow. Asking advice from a kid. You've hit rock bottom in one night Shi. Damn._ "You'll have to explain yourself to them at one point or another." Kirito told me. "Yeah I guess so." I sighed.

"Hey, there's a restaurant down the street. You should eat. You've had a long night." Kirito told me. _That's probably a good idea._ "Okay. That sounds like a good idea." I said. We made our way to the restaurant.

The road we walked down looked like a narrow street of cobblestone. We walked beneath the halos of passing street lamps. We walked to the restaurant in silence.

 **The next morning**

Boom! A grenade blew up in front of my ditch. A plume of smoke, flames, and debris rose from the explosion. Rat tat tat! A machine gun rattled on, spewing hot lead bullets left right and center. Bullets whizzed past my ear like bees, dirt flying around me from the impact of bullets and shrapnel. "Get down!" I yelled, but it was too late. Crack! Thud! When I opened my eyes, blood staining my sight.

I sat up quickly, panting from fear. _Again with that dream_ Catching my breath, I rubbed my eyes and blinked the stars out of them afterwards. I looked around. I laid in a bed at an inn in Tolbana. The room I was in was a little like the one from last night. An oil lamp sat on the small wooden table. Bright sunlight streamed in through the window, lighting the dusty room. I rose from my bed and walked towards the window, my bare feet dragging my body to where I wanted to go.

 _"You'll have to explain yourself to them at one point or another,"_ Kirito's advice echoed in my ears. I sighed and opened my menu. I equipped my sword and changed out of my pajamas. That's right. I still sleep in PJs. My clothes changed from light blue silk pajamas to my brown attire, my scarf that covered my mouth and nose appeared on my face. My sword and its scabbard materialized on my back.

I haven't seen Naomi or Miya since they stormed out last night. Kirito went off after dinner to join the assault team on the second floor. That left me here all by myself. And I couldn't just walk up to Naomi and say "Hey, I'm sorry I killed someone" and not sound like a crazed dude.

I sighed again and checked my friend's list. I tapped on Naomi's name and her map popped up. She was hunting in the fields where I saved Miya from last night. I saw her health bar in the corner of my eye. It was halfway depleted. She must've been hunting for a while now. I smiled. She's working hard to get outta this hellhole.

 **One hour later, north of the village**

I walked around the lush green plains and hills, thinking about what I was going to say to Naomi. My mind went around in circles as my gut twisted and turned. I looked up at the white puffs of clouds up above.

The sound of a blade being drawn interrupted my train of thought. I looked ahead and saw a silver blade being held close to my throat. I looked at the wielder. There stood the blond woman who I called my friend. Naomi's yellow wavy hair blew in the breeze, her dress hung a little loose on her body. Her bright red cheeks that were polka dotted with freckles reminded me of ladybugs in the spring flowers. Her eyes that were glaring at me gave her a sort of bad ass look. I felt like I was falling in love if not for the sword at my throat.

I gulped, my Adams apple touching the tip of Naomi's sharp weapon. "Hello." I squeaked. _Again with the squeaks. Come on Shi!_ I would've tried again, but I was afraid Naomi would plunge her sword in my throat. "What are you doing here?" Naomi growled. "I... I um," I stammered. _Spit it out man!_ "I came to talk to you."

The breeze stopped blowing. "One minute." she dictated. "Look, I'm... um." I stuttered. "Tick tock." she said. _Not helping!_ "I'm... I-" I stuttered again. "Fifty seconds left." Naomi said. "I'm sorry for last night." I blurted out, "I'm sorry for what I did. I shouldn't have killed that dude. I'm sorry." Wow that sounded weird. I gulped again. "I'm sorry for-" Naomi put her blade on my lips, quieting me.

"You don't have to apologize. I understand. I really do. I was just thinking about me being with you. You know, you being red and all." she explained. "I don't know what I should do. I wanna stay with you. I really do. But, the thing is..." her voice trailed off. "Look, you don't have to be with me. You can do amazing things yourself." I assured her. _What am I doing? I want to stay with her!_

"I'd stay with him if I were you." a voice called out. We both turned to look. Naomi dropped her sword. It was Miya, leaning against a tree on a nearby hill. "He has risked his life for ours. So what if he's a beta tester. So what if he's a red player."

"And, that cursor will turn green again. I saw Kirito as he was going to the second floor. He told me that in a few hours, his cursor will return back to normal. As long as he doesn't commit four more crimes, I think he's good." She was right. As soon as she said it, I looked at my cursor next to my health bar. It changed from orange to green.

"In fact, I actually wanna party up with him." she said, walking towards us. Naomi seemed to think about that. Miya opened her party menu and typed in my name. A second later, a message popped up in front of me. I hesitated, my finger hovering over the blue accept button.

I looked towards Naomi. "You know, I need more people in my squad. Do you wanna stay?" I asked Naomi. "An eye for an eye and the world goes blind." she finally said, "But I guess some people don't need to see. I'm joining you." I smiled and pushed on the button. Now we're talking. I gotta lead these two girls in battle. I'm a Ranger, and Rangers lead the way.

Lead the way.

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 **A/N: Hey guys! So we see Miya joining up with Shi and Naomi. How big will Shi's squad will grow? Will Shi get over what happened in Afghanistan? He seemed rather... affected by that after Diavel's death. Stay tuned in for more. Also, since school is starting, I might not be able to keep writing as much. I will write when I find the time. If you have any comments or anything that I should do differently to help this story be better, please tell me in the reviews. This is the Sanman, signing off!**


	4. Knights

_**Knights**_

 **April 22, 2023; Bepoli, twentieth floor**

"Happy birthday!" a pair of voices sang out as I walked into the tavern. April twenty-two. My birthday. I'm turning 27 now. About half a year in. _Damn, already. Half a year._ I looked around. Naomi and Miya stood in front of me, smiling. I smiled back.

The tavern looked like any other tavern. Tables with chairs were aligned in straight lines in the tavern. There were red and white tablecloths draped across the tables. A bartender attended to patrons at the bar, serving drinks that I wouldn't be able to keep down back in the real world. _The real world._ I just remembered that I was stuck in this place.

We haven't really been on the front lines for a bit. We fought a few boss battles with the Assault team, but it wasn't much. We did a few boring and (ridiculously) long and complex side quests. Hey, welcome to the world of RPGs. Reminds me of politics.

"Hey, thanks guys, but you didn't have to do this." I said. "No way! It's your birthday! We should celebrate." Naomi said with a wink. "Yeah! Besides, we worked really hard. We should take a break from the front lines for now." Miya smirked. That was true. We have worked long and hard the last few months, clearing floors and dungeons. I still wanted my ax. "Well, in this case... let's eat."

We took our seats at a table in the corner. Naomi sat next to me while Miya sat across from us. Outside, night fell and covered the world of Aincrad in darkness. Even though it was nighttime, the town of Bepoli was bustling with activity. A waitress came over to our table to take our orders. I was gonna have a steak, medium rare. Naomi was having fish and Miya ordered a salad. "Okay. Please wait for a bit." the waitress said. Miya thanked the waitress, who walked off to serve other patrons.

"Anyways, thank you." I said to the girls. "You don't have keep to say thank you, dummy." Naomi said playfully. "Alright." I raised my hands up in surrender. Miya laughed. I felt warm inside.

Soon, our food came.

"Let's dig in." I said, grabbing my utensils and attacked my steak. Miya just stared at me as I took bite after bite of that savory steak. _Damn, this is really good._ "How do you just devour that?" she asked as I took the last bite of my juicy and bloody meat. Naomi snorted while chewing her fish, trying to contain a laugh. I laughed a little. Naomi was not even close to finishing her food and Miya didn't even start eating. "Appetite of a soldier." I smirked as I wiped the grease from my mouth with a cloth, "I guess after eating uncooked MRE's in the desert for a year makes you want to eat as much as you can."

"Sergeant Shijo Hashimoto!" a voice called out from the doorway of the tavern. There stood the brown haired girl who was partied up with Kirito back on the first floor boss. _Uhh_ was all I thought when she called out my name. I stood up and snapped a stiff salute. "Ma'am" I said instinctively. I then remembered that I was not in the Army anymore. I dropped my hand to my side.

The girl walked up to me. She was about as tall as Kirito, maybe taller. Couldn't really tell though. Her white and red uniform stood out like a sore thumb. Her eyes, I noticed, were the same color as her hair. Speaking of, her hair reached all the way down to her hips. Her red skirt popped out of her uniform like a star shell in the night sky.

"Uh, hello." I said awkwardly. "My name is Asuna of the Knights of the Blood Oath." she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you. I assume you know my name. Please, sit down." I said, sitting back down. She sat down next to Miya, who was sort of busy eating her salad. "Hello," Naomi said, "I'm Naomi." Asuna shook Naomi's hand which was held out to her. "And that's Miya" Naomi pointed at the red haired girl. "Mhphf" she said with her mouth full of green leaves.

Everyone seemed to stare at us. Not in a bad way of course. I kept hearing "Is that Asuna?" and "Asuna? Why is she here?" like we're in the presence of a pop star. "Let's just get down to business." Asuna said, leaning against her arm which was propped up against the table. "Uh, okay." I blankly said.

"Long story short, we have made a guild called the Knights of the Blood Oath. We were hoping that you would join us. I have heard of your high level in this game. Also, I was there at the first boss fight when you said that you were a sergeant major." Asuna explained. I have reached a really high level in this game. Almost level 40 to be exact. The girls are not too far behind. Our weapons are also better tier weapons. I used a two handed sword made by a player as payment for doing something. The sword was named White Noise. Seemed fitting, since the blade was white. It was a good weapon, but I don't know if it's good enough.

"What makes you think that we'll just join you?" Naomi crossed her arms. "Well, our commander is Heathcliff, one of the strongest players in SAO. His vice commander is none other than _moi._ " She did a gesture as if she was some sort of princess. To be honest, she looked ridiculous.

"So y'all got strong players. Gonna guess you guys are on the frontlines?" I said, somewhat intrigued. Asuna nodded. "The thing is," I pointed at the girls in my squad, "I just don't wanna get anyone killed." I don't wanna make that mistake again. "Don't worry. I personally make sure no one will die." There was an awkward silence. It looked like Naomi wasn't buying. She leaned towards my ear and whispered "Hey, let's get them to pay for us being here." I smirked. "Let's make 'em give us money that we could use." I said. "Good idea." Naomi sat back up.

"Okay. We'll join if you give us money." I said bluntly. Asuna seemed sort of surprised. Miya gave me a look that said "What the fuck? Why?". Asuna thought about this for a second or two before agreeing. I thought of a good amount. She then took my unopened wine bottle and popped the cap off. She just started chugging it afterwards. _Seriously?_

"Hundred grand." I said. Asuna spit out her drink, the mist of wine floating down onto us before disappearing into polygons. "What?" Asuna said while wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Don't make me bump it up to two hundred." I said. Wow, I really am an asshole. She glared at me for a second before saying "Fine. I will try to find the funds for you."

Cor is the main currency in SAO, like the American dollar (I like to call them "Greenbacks") or the Japanese Yen. Cor literally stands for "Currency of radius", which Aincrad was: a bunch of circular floors.

Miya just kept staring at me. Naomi smiled. Asuna looked a little upset, a little frustrated, and a little angry. To be honest, for a girl who looks kinda hot... she looks intimidating when pissed. "Okay fine." I said, "I was joking." Asuna seemed to calm down a bit. "Just give us fifty grand and we'll join." I said. Miya smiled at me, I smiled back. "Fine. I'll get your money. Our home base is on floor twenty five, in Giltstein." she explained.

 **The next day, Giltstein, twenty fifth floor**

The address that Asuna gave me brought to the twenty fifth floor in the city of Giltstien. The base of operations of the Knights of the Blood Oath was a four story building of brick and stone. A few thin Italian Cypress trees ornamented the cobblestone pathway that led to the door. Wasn't too grand, but inside housed one of the strongest guilds in SAO.

I approached the door with Naomi and Miya right behind me. The door was a simple wooden door with a few metal parts there. Knock Knock Knock. No answer for a little while. I backed up, waiting for someone to answer the door. _Are they out?_ I asked myself. "Maybe they're not here?" suggested Miya. "Maybe we are."

I turned around. There stood a man about as tall as me. He had long hair grey hair. Guy was big and buff too. His face looked like he was probably forty. He looked sorta old. He wore blood red armor with white outlines. His shield, a white piece of metal shaped like a cross with a red cross on the middle. The handle of a sword stuck out of the shield. I guess the sheath was in the shield.

"Uh, Heathcliff?" I asked. To be honest, this guy's stronger than me. I could already tell. "At your service." he bowed down in front of Naomi, Miya, and I. "Sergeant Major Shijo Hashimoto. US Army, 75th Ranger Regiment." I snapped a salute. Heathcliff returned the salute. "At ease." Heathcliff used his saluting hand and patted my shoulder. I dropped my hand to my waist. Naomi and Miya introduced themselves and shook his hand.

"So. Here is the soldier and his friends people has been talking about." he said, smirking. Something doesn't feel right. "Uh, yeah." was all I could say. _Is it just me, or does something feel... off?_ "So, you are the commander of the KoB." I recalled. "Yes, I am." he said.

Asuna told me last night that the commander, Heathcliff, was also the KoB's founder. The strongest player in SAO was standing in front of me.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked "You want me to help lead?" _Maybe it's because of my military background_. "Yes. I want you to be the team leader for Team D. I heard that you have commanded a squad when you were in the Rangers." he told me. _I was right._ "Yeah. I did." I started to stare off into space again. "Well, let's talk about this inside." he suggested.

 **Ten minutes later**

"So, Team D will be my own people that I recruit." I concluded. Inside, wood was burning from a brick fireplace. Reminded me of those old Santa Clause picture books. I half expected that he would shimmy down the chimney. My friends and I sat opposite to Heathcliff, who was still wearing his armor. A lock of hair "Yes. You are in charge of your own team." he explained. "So, the three of us and anyone else who joins up with us." I guessed. "Yes," he responded, "I will accept anyone you put in your team." _Anyone. Okay._

"So, who is in the guild?" I asked. "Well, there's me. And you know Asuna, leader of team B and vice-commander." he adjusted a lock of hair that hung down from his head, "There is Kuradeel, Asuna's bodyguard. There's Daizen, our financial manager. Godfree, who is leader for team A. Lastly, Uzala is leader for team C."

"How many people?" I asked. "Around twenty strong. All divided into four teams; A, B, C, and D." he explained. "Reminds me of a platoon." I murmured. "How does a platoon work?" he asked. "Well," I explained, "a platoon would have 16 to 44 men. All lead by someone like you. You are probably at the rank of a lieutenant if this was in the real world, with an NCO as a second in command. That's Asuna's role. And there is three to four squads or sections that divided the platoon."

"Huh. So, your rank in the Army would make you a squad leader." he guessed. "If the time calls for it. I would usually be one of the NCOs helping the lieutenant. But if needed, I would take the reins." I explained. Again, memories of that mission flashed in my eyes. "The team leaders also act as NCOs in this case. They're my advisors as well as leaders." he told me. "I guess so." I simply said, shrugging my shoulders. "Uh, I got a question," Miya raised her hand, "are there uniforms?"

 **The next day**

We got our uniforms. We walked out of the tailor shop donning our colors. White armor and a cape with a red cross of the KoB on it. That was Naomi and Miya's uniform. Heathcliff told me that I could wear something of my choice since I was the team leader, which was odd. But whatever.

I was wearing a coat. It was white with red lapels. Silver buttons were laid along the lapel. A hood covered my head. The hood also had something like a tail dipping down onto my nose, making me look like a hawk. The "beak", as I like to call it, had the red cross on it. I tried to copy what Connor wore in Assassins Creed, but instead of blue, I wore red.

Apparently, only Heathcliff, Asuna, and I have different uniforms. I chose my uniform for its speed and agility in combat. Not as good at protecting me as armor, but you can't get hurt if you don't get hit. Cue that profound advice meme.

Naomi and Miya wore similar uniforms. They looked like the knights from those storybooks I used to read, just with white armor instead of silver ones and without the helmets. "Ugh," Naomi groaned, examining her gauntlet, "I look like a tool." I guess she wasn't into uniforms. "I think we look awesome." remarked Miya. "Shut up." Naomi snapped.

Ever since Miya joined up with us, Naomi seemed like she _had_ to hate her, even though she saved her from those guys. I don't know why though. Maybe it's because she seems really close to me and Naomi's just jealous? I don't know, but I can sense a sort of rivalry going on between them. It does not affect their fighting monsters though. They work well together in combat, so I guess their rivalry is just out of battle. To be honest, it seems adorable to watch these two bicker. Two girls, one guy.

"I think you look alright, Miya." I said out loud, hoping to start a fight. It's pretty funny when I see them go at each other's throats. So, I'm just a sadistic asshole.

Miya turned her head to hide her face, but I can tell that she was blushing. Naomi just glared at me. _Damn woman! You scary!_ "You look alright as well, Naomi." I said to her. She just glared at me. She could probably sense that I was trying to start a fight. We walked to the town plaza afterwards, its walls and columns pretty much identical to the one back in the Town of Beginnings.

The girls and I sat down on some wooden benches that lined the plaza walls. A few gates that led to hunting grounds outside of Giltstien were ornamented by colorful flowers. Felt like it was a good day today. Not to hot, not to cold. White puffs of clouds lined the ocean blue sky. I sat in between the girls, who were messing around in their menus. A cool gentle breeze blew in the plaza.

It felt like any other day. No action, no problems, no conflict. Nothing. But, knowing my luck, that would soon change. That's my life, I guess.

"Help!" a voice called out, "Someone! Please!" _There it is._ I craned my head to see who it was. I looked around, but I didn't see anything. Naomi tapped on my shoulder and pointed to where I was looking, just below from my line of sight. There was a little girl, maybe 12? _Shit. We got children risking their lives as well._ The girl seemed to be asking everyone at the plaza for something, but I don't know what.

"What happened?" Miya asked. "I dunno. Let's check it out." I suggested. We all stood up and walk towards the little girl.

"Please! Someone! Help! Anyone!" she cried out. She looked like she was gonna give up, just standing there and looking around. She then looked at us. She ran toward us quickly. She tripped and fell. I helped her up by picking up her arm. She did look 12. Just a kid. She had freckles like Naomi and jet black hair like Kirito. Her eyes were red from crying.

"Please!," she cried out, "Help me. My brother has been kidnapped by a group. And they're asking for money to free him. And-" I put a finger up, stopping the girl from talking. "We're not giving money." I assured her. "No! Please! They said they would kill him tomorrow!" she started sobbing, shoving her face into my side. I looked toward the girls. "We can't use the KoB's resources." Naomi told me. I looked down back at the girl. Tears were streaming from her face, the drops of water slid off from her cheeks and disappeared into polygons.

"Hey, kid. I didn't say we wouldn't help you." I said. She looked at me with puppy dog eyes. "You will?" she asked with a hopeful tone. "Yes. I will. Just without money." I said. The girl cocked her head to the side and asked "How?" Yeah, how? _C'mon Shi. What do we say about negotiating with terrorists? We don't._ That's right! We don't give in to their demands. We just seize that opportunity to strike. Like a rattlesnake to a mouse, you lure its prey in. And then you strike. We got our mission now.

"We do not follow their orders." I said as calmly as I can. But seriously, I was scared. I'm scared of me or one of the girls dying. I'm scared of getting our hostage killed. I'm scared for this little girl's safety. _Shi, you're a soldier. Act like one._ "I promise we will get your brother without giving money." I said, my voice a little shaky. Good O' Shi, back in the fray.

Suddenly, I found myself back in Afghanistan again. But it wasn't back at that ditch. I found myself back in that briefing room in that outpost on that blasted hill.

Wooden planks propped up like a tent served as a shelter from the outside. Helicopter blades spun and made those loud _Whomp! Whomp!_ sounds. On the walls, maps with tacks were hung. My squad and I stood around a table with a map laid on top of it. My CO was briefing us. "Okay men," my CO said, "Hashimoto's squad will be storming the target building and getting the hostage out by Black Hawk. Then, the QRF (Quick Reaction Force) will pick you all up and exfil you out of the city." That was the start of the mission. The mission where I saw my best friend killed.

I shook off that thought. _I'm a Ranger. I have dealt with this type of stuff before._ I'm a Ranger. I'm a Ranger. Rangers lead the way.

Rangers lead the way.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! School just started, so yay... I guess. Anyways, we see that our characters join the Knights of the Blood Oath. There has been a 20 floor time gap but nothing really happened in that gap. Maybe a few quests and hunting? I'll let your imagination run wild. Half a year in and Shi is now 27. A hostage situation is now underway. Will Shi and the girls save the hostage? Can Shi save everyone, or will someone die? Stay tuned for more. This is the Sanman, signing off!**


	5. A New Enemy

_**A New Enemy**_

 **Floor 25: about five clicks north of Giltstien**

The person walking ahead of me collapsed down onto the ground with a thump. "Ambush! Right side! Right side!" a voice yelled, but I could not hear him. Instead of the sound of steel against steel of blades, gunfire echoed in my ears. Instead of silver swords, I saw black rifles. The world around me was replaced with dusty buildings in the dry Afghan lands.

Afghanistan. Operation Firestorm, AKA the Second Battle of Marjah. The mission that was fucked up beyond any recognition. The mission that screwed most of us. It wasn't as much of a battle. It was more like a massacre. I can't stop thinking about it when I came here, when I came in this frigging game called Sword Art Online.

 **The day before**

"Sir." I saluted the commander of the KoB. Heathcliff was sitting at his wooden desk with some papers on top. "Yes? What is it, Sarge?" he clasped his hands. "There has been a situation." I stated. "Oh? What kind of situation?" he asked. "A hostage situation. Some guys have kidnapped someone and asked for ransom money," I explained, "but I'm a soldier. I don't negotiate with terrorists."

Heathcliff shifted in his seat. "Any witnesses?" he asked. "Yes. The hostage's sister was sent by the kidnappers to act as messenger." I continued. "Well, what are you going to do about that?" he stood up, straightened some papers, and proceeded to walk out of the room.

"Sir, with all due respect, we can't just do that." I tried to persuade him. "What do you want me to do?" he asked. "Sir, you're my CO. I need your orders so I can do my job." I said. "You're not in the Army anymore, Shi. I really don't work with anyone else. I just let the team leaders do the talking. If you want, you could ask one of them to go with you." he closed the door, leaving me alone in that room.

 _Not really a leader, huh?_ I really didn't want to get other squads to go with me, but I guess I have no choice. I don't know what's going to happen and I should have backup.

 **Later, Giltstien**

"So what you're saying is that you got permission to do this?" asked Naomi. "Well, not exactly." I said, "But I'm going anyways. I've done this before." _Though, it did not go well._

We sat at one of the tables in the restaurant in Giltstien. The girl, Kit, sat across from me. The girls sat at the remaining chairs. "Really? Thank you!" the rather petite girl exclaimed. "I'm a soldier. It's my job." I stated. "So, how are we going to do this?" Miya asked. _Good question. How_ are _we gonna do this?_ I immediately drew up a plan.

"Simple." I explained, "We're gonna take another squad with us and just attack."

"But how are we going _do_ this?" asked Miya. How? All I could come up with is using ourselves as bait. _Shit, is that what we gotta work with?_ Fuck it, might as well. "We will use ourselves as bait." I said. Naomi and Miya looked a little shocked. "Bait?" Naomi whispered. "It's fine. 'Sides, we're probably stronger than them." I said. "We don't even know where to look!" Naomi exclaimed.

"Ah, I was just getting to that. You see, your friends list has a map that shows you the location of whoever you have friended. That's how I found you and Miya that night." I explained, "We will just fuck around, trying to get them to come out of their hiding spot to attack us."

"That sounds like a retarded plan." Naomi said in a witty tone. "Ehh, that's all I got," I muttered, "anyone else got an idea?" I looked around. The girls just stared at me. "Then I guess that we all agree to this plan." I said, clapping my hands. I'm scared shitless right now. I don't wanna lead anyone to their deaths. _C'mon Shi. That's what you face every day on deployment. You're used to it._

 **Back at the base**

I looked for one of the squad leaders. But they're nowhere to be seen. Long hallways, multiple rooms, no one to help us. Sunlight shone through the dusty and empty building. Reminded me of those horror movies. Gave me the creeps. _They're probably out on a quest or something again._ This happens lots of times. The KoB would go out to do something at least a couple times a day. Nothing much. It's like a quick milk run. But, that ain't gonna help me with this.

Frustrated, I took a walk outside of the mansion we call home. I walked down the cobblestone path to the gate, the Italian Cypress trees providing cool shade along the stone path. I walked past the gate and looked to my left and saw someone.

The guy wore a dark robe and he was leaning against the stone wall that fenced the mansion in, his arms crossed and his head down. "Identify yourself." I asked, pulling out my sword and holding it in front of me. "Relax," the guy rasped, "this is a safe zone. I don't think you can kill me here. And if you do attack me, your cursor will turn orange. Don't want that happening again, do you?" _Again? This dude saw me back at the fields. Is he part of that group that attacked us?_

"Who the fuck are you?" I asked again. The man stood up and turned towards me. His face was hidden by a mask that looked like a skull. "I'm your worst nightmare." he murmured. The hell? "If I were you, I would just leave us alone or give us that ransom money. It's your choice." he spoke. "I'm a soldier. I don't negotiate with terrorists and I always accomplish my mission." I said, trying to mask the fear in my voice. I was trying to act like Kirito on that first-floor boss dungeon, hiding his fear with an act of bravado.

"Oh! A soldier! How exciting!" he exclaimed. "So what?" I sneered. "I look forward to killing you." the guy said. _Kill? The fuck? Who is this guy?_ "Oh, and if you don't give us the money, we will kill that little girl's brother. And you don't want that happening, do you?" he said, walking off. I sheathed my sword and watched as the guy's figure shrinks smaller and smaller as he gets farther away.

I leaned against the stone wall, my sword clanking around in its sheath. I didn't know what I felt. Angry at him for thinking I'm weak? That I let him go? Scared of dying? Killing me? How? Who _was_ that guy? I had too many questions swimming in my brain. You ever get that? Like you don't know how you feel?

"What happened to you?" asked a feminine voice to my right. I turned my head to look. There stood Naomi with her eyes glaring at me. She had a sort of angry look on her face. Didn't mean that she didn't look beautiful, but still. She crossed her arms and leaned her shoulder onto the wall. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You're all pale. You look like you've seen a ghost." she explained. "Oh, umm, I've had a little run in with one of the kidnapper. Said he got Kit's brother and to pay up." I told her about that dude.

"What about you? You look pissed." I asked. "Miya stole lots of my kills." she told me. "Hunting?" I asked. "Yeah. I did most of the damage, but she kept taking the final hit bonus." she said. I smirked. I opened my mouth to speak. "Don't say anything." she glared at me. "Wasn't gonna."

"Hey Shi!" Miya called out, "I found a squad who will help us!"

 **The next day, about five clicks north of Giltstien**

We were walking patrol. Tree roots and rocks made the path to where our hostage is made it hard to traverse the dirt road. Miya kept Kit from tripping on the obstacles in the way. Ahead, Asuna's squad, four men strong, walked ahead of us. One of her men walked point.

Miya somehow got Asuna to come with us on this mission.

"Hey, I feel like I'm being watched." Naomi said. She walked next to me. I said "Always trust your g-"

"Ambush! Right side! Right side!" a voice yelled. The man who was walking point had a throwing dagger stuck onto his forehead. He fell down with a meaty thump. The world around me echoed as I faded from reality.

Guys in dark robes attacked our party from the right side. They seemed to jump out of the treeline and attack us. I stood there, frozen. I held up my hands. I noticed they were shaking. I looked around in horror and confusion. I kept seeing my squad. Instead of the song of metal against metal was replaced with the steady drone of machine gun fire in my ears. My hands bore torn and bloody gloves.

I found myself back in Afghanistan. Gray buildings surrounded me. A dirt road stretched off into the distance, many side streets intersecting it. My mission was to breach one of the buildings there to find the hostage. He was already dead when we got there. And that was only the first of many fuckups in that mission.

I saw her. I watched as she got shot. My friend and squadmate got shot as soon as we turned the corner to get to our rendezvous point with the QRF. As soon as we turned the corner of that street, she was hit by a sniper in the shoulder. I watched as her shoulder snapped back from the impact. I watched as she stared at me with a face of fright and pain. I watched as the life was sucked out of her eyes and her body going limp. I saw her soul as it left her body.

"Shi! Watch out!" a familiar voice brought me out of that memory. I looked around. A guy with a spear tried to stab my side. I used my arm to push the spear out of the way and pulled out my sword. A quick stab through his chest killed him, his body disintegrating in light blue polygons.

I looked around. Many of our men are already engaging the guys who attacked us. Swords clanged and sparks flew. The sound of blades connecting echoed through the forest. They had about ten guys against the nine of us. Naomi and Miya worked together to keep three guys occupied as Asuna tried to flank around them.

"Help!" a voice called out. I turned to look. It was Kit, the little girl. She was taking two guys at once in a clearing to our right. I rushed in to help her. Nearby, a young looking man untangled ropes that bound his wrists. _When was he here?_

"I got you!" I yelled, but I was too late. A sword was stuck in her torso, in through back and out through the stomach, the leather hilt stuck on her back. She collapsed. "Kit!" the guy screamed. _Shit!_ I pulled my sword back and swung, my blade aimed for his neck. His head came off in one clean slice before his body disappearing into a light show. I grabbed the other guy who was next to his buddy by the collar and then pulled him down. The rest of the robed figures retreated.

I restrained his arms so that he wouldn't move. "Naomi! Miya!" I called out. Naomi came over and helped restrain the guy. I looked back. Miya came running to Kit's aid. The kid knelt as he held Kit in his arms. "No no no," he chanted as her body began fading away. "It's okay. I did this for you. Go ahead and beat this game for me." she uttered as she drew her final breath.

She raised her hand and touched her brother's shoulder as she started to disappear. "No, I can't lose you!" he cried, tears dripping down from his face. It was painful to watch. "Please please! God! Help!" he cried some more. Then, the girl disappeared into polygons. Miya covered her mouth in horror.

The guy under me started laughing maniacally. "What's so funny?" I seethed. "One down!" he exclaimed. I grabbed his collar and lifted his body up a bit before slamming him down hard onto the ground. He grunted. "I'm still looking forward to killing you," he continued, "but not now." Then, someone from the trees threw a dagger at my shoulder. My shoulder shot back as I fell down, unable to move. "Shi!" Naomi exclaimed. _What the hell is happening? Why can't I move?_

The guy ran to a tree stump. "My name is Johnny Black! This man here, this soldier killed my friends. Now, he's a dead man walking." he announced. He then booked it.

 **Later, at the edge of the floor**

The sun started to set. I leaned against a tree. Naomi was nearby, watching me from a distance. A few benches were set facing the edge of the floor, a short stone wall protecting the viewing area. The kid, who was named Haru, stood on top of the fence, ready to jump. Kid sounded like he wanted to kill himself ever since his sister died in his arms. Naomi tapped on my shouder. I turned to look. "Go talk to him." Naomi told me. I walked up to him.

"Hell of a view, ain't it?" I said so casually as I walked to him. "Probably the last thing I see before dying, I guess." he said, Above and below, white puffs of clouds ornamented the sky around Aincrad. His dark silhouette shone against the orange afternoon sky, his long blond hair flowing in the breeze.

"Long way down." I stated. "Doesn't scare me." he said. He reminded me of me when I came home from deployment in Afghanistan. Long nights and spending the entire day drunk as hell. "Listen," I talked about myself, "I was a lot like you. I served in Afghanistan last year. I led a squad in the Second Battle of Marjah." I sighed. "It was my fault. My fault I got them killed. One of the survivors killed himself after his legs were blown off. He couldn't play football like he want to.

"Ever since I came home from deployment, I would find myself with a gun to my head. I was just afraid to pull the trigger." I hopped onto the fence next to Haru, who paid no heed. "If you jump, I jump." I said, looking down. Haru just stared at the orange sky. "You don't want blood on your hands, do ya?" I said.

"I already do." he said after a long silence, "It was my fault. My sister was killed because of me. If we didn't go hunting, this wouldn't have happened." _Shit. He's blaming himself. That's why he's doing this._ I stood down from the wall, watching him stand there. "Don't do this." I said. "My sister is dead. I've killed her. I deserve this. I deserve to pay the price." he said. He raised his hands up into the air and jumped. "Haru!" I yelled as I lunged forward. I grabbed something, anything. I ended up grabbing his collar, his body dangling and flailing about.

I pulled him up, Haru sqirming and showing resistance. I threw him onto the ground and pinned him against the hard cobblestone platform. "Let me go!" he exclaimed, struggling underneath me as he flailed his arms about with his stomach on the ground. I grabbed his wrists and held them against his back. "Help! Naomi!" I called out.

Naomi came from where she was hiding. She came over to me and put herself on top of Haru as I got off him. I knelt next to him and looked up into the heavens above. Tears trickled down from the corner of my eyes.

I remembered me being in my kitchen a couple months after deployment. I remembered having a gun in one hand and a whisky in the other. That memory reminded me of a character in a video game. That guy would keep playing Russian Roulette so that he had the guts to do it.

I shook the memory off. _Come on Shi! You're a soldier!_ "I-If you want to, you can join us." I proposed, "You can have something to fight for, to _live_ for." He stared at me, his ocean blue eyes looking at the soldier in front of him. "You think I'll join you?" he roared, "You led my sister to her death! You told her that you can get me! I told her not to worry about me! But you had to set the ball rolling! And now she's dead! Now, you're asking me to join you?"

 _He's right. Her death was, in some way, my fault. If I had just been another man, I would've let him die. But, being a soldier, I had to help. Being a soldier got another killed. What should I do?._ "You are lucky to have a sister like her. Like Kit." I tried to calm him down. "Don't say her name, you bitch!" he yelled. Not working!

"Your sister risked her life for you. She risked her life to save yours. But, she had the short end of the bargain. She died for you." I said sincerely. "She died because you gave her hope! Hope that got her killed! In this world, hope is fake and dangerous!" he argued. "And are you going to let her life go in vain? Or will you take the chance for redemption.

"The Knights of the Blood Oath needs a group who can combat those killers, those murderers. We need people who can avenge our lost loved ones, and to beat this godforsaken game." I said. Haru just stared at me with Naomi on top of him.

I sound like those Army recruiters. But, I'm a Ranger. I need men to lead. Rangers lead the way.

Rangers lead the way.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! It's the Sanman! Second week of high school done. Thank god. So, I had killed off Kit. Even though I just introduced her. She really was an instrument to introduce another character. Also, I had just noticed that both this story and my Gate story talks about PTSD. Anyways, will Haru get over his sister and join Shi? Or will he pull the trigger? Stay tuned for more! This is the Sanman, signing off!**


	6. Orders from the Top

**_Orders from the Top_**

Warm beams of sunlight woke me up in my room. I was wrapped in piles of blankets. Yesterday, it was hell. My plan sort of worked, but we still lost someone. Haru didn't take it well. He wanted to kill himself. He still blames himself for his sister Kit. He thinks it's his fault that he got her killed. _Least he ain't blaming me._

I sat up with a groan. I groggily rubbed my eyes as hard as I can. I reached my arms up and yawned. I look next to me. There lay Naomi in her black undergarments, her face so peaceful and cute when she's asleep. Hard to imagine she's a badass warrior. She stirred a little in her sleep, but she didn't wake up.

She and I have been sleeping in the same bed since Miya joined us. Miya has her own room while Naomi and I share one to save money. Sounds weird, since she likes to sleep in her bra and panties, but I ain't complaining (I'm a jarhead, I shouldn't). I don't really know why she wanted to stay in my room. Maybe it's because she has a grudge against Miya? She told me that she feels safe around me, as I to her. I decided not to wake her since it was six o'clock in the morning. To me, that's waking up late. I guess that came from boot camp.

I slowly and carefully took off my covers. I felt the cold wood on my feet as I crept to the door. Ever so slightly, I open the door, which creaked on its hinges. "Shh!" I silently told the inanimate object. I tiptoed through the little crack of the doorway as so that I would not dare to wake Naomi from her slumber. She's scary if someone wakes her up.

In the dark hallway, I opened my inventory and equipped my bright white and red uniform with its hood hanging from the collar. I looked to the door next to mine and noticed it was open. _Why is Miya's door open?_ I asked myself. Curious, I peered into the room. I saw Miya sitting at the edge of her bed. I knocked on the door.

"May I come in?" I asked. "Yeah, come in." she wiped her eyes and sniffled. I walked in. Her eyes were red from crying. "Hey, you okay?" I asked, sitting next to her. "I- I'm worried for Haru." she said with a shaky breath. Haru stayed with Miya for the night, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Where is he?" I asked. "He had been tossing and turning last night. When I tried to wake him, he basically ran out of the room. I didn't follow him." she replied.

"I was like that. Just give him some time." I said. "Well, you should look for him. I don't think I can find him myself." she suggested. "Alright." I said, standing up. As I reached for the doorknob of the door, Miya spoke up. "Please, don't let him kill himself." she said. With a quick nod, I walk out of the room.

I felt the bright sunlight hit my face like a sledge hammer as I walked out of the inn. It was really hot out today. Like really hot. Like Afghanistan hot. _Where would I find a suicidal dude?_ I opened my menu and tapped on my searching skill. In the middle of the night, I snuck into his room and while he was asleep, I used his hand to accept a friend request I had sent him. Dude didn't move once.

My vision turned green as if I had put on night vision goggles. On the ground, I saw a track of orange footprints leading down the street. Like a hunter to its prey, I followed the tracks. Around me, the windows of the buildings start lighting up as the town slowly woke up. The trail soon led me to a church. That church had a cross on the front as well as a tall tower at the top. Its stone wall glowing in the morning sun.

I opened the door and looked at the ground. Ahead, a few pews faced towards the altar of the church. A kaleidoscope of stained glass glowed as rays of sunshine go through the colored glass. The trail of footprints soon led its way to a set of stairs. "He's probably in the tower." I mumbled. Deactivating my skill that I was using, my vision turned back to normal.

"Well, here goes nothing." I said. I started up the stairs.

Quietly, I crept up into the tower at the top of the church. He's not gonna be able to kill himself here because this is a safe zone, so that's good. After a minute or two, I made it to the top.

I saw Haru sitting on the edge of the tower, his legs dangling from his spot. _What should I say?_ The rising sun glowed orange on the horizon. Below, the city of Giltstien was waking up. A green lawn had a few benches while some people bustled about.

"There is a house in New Orleans," I sung, "They call the Rising Sun. And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy. And God, I know, I'm one." Haru didn't move an inch. "My mother was a tailor," I continued, "She sewed my new blue jeans. My father, was a gambler. Down in New Orleans."

"House of the Rising Sun," Haru finally spoke, "a classic." I smiled. "Well, it was a favorite song of mine." I said. "Mine too. My father would put it on the radio every time he would take me flying." he said. _He's a flyboy._

"Your dad's a pilot?" I asked. "Yeah, he is. He works for the JSDF. He was a helicopter pilot, using one of those Hueys the Americans sent over. Reminded me of those old Vietnam movies I watched with him. I used to live near his base. Every once in a while, he would wake me up early in the morning and bring me to the base. Sometimes, he would let me fly in his helicopter." he explained. "Sounds like he's a pretty cool dad." I said.

"He died last year." he said, "His helicopter crashed from an unexpected storm. My mother killed herself a week later from grief. My sister and I were left alone. She was all I had. And now, she's gone." He wiped a tear from his eye.

The tower we were in felt smaller. "You know, my buddy is from New Orleans. We were deployed in Afghanistan. We barely saw action. Maybe an IED or an ambush here and there, but it wasn't anything our fellow Rangers couldn't handle. Nearing the end of our deployment, we had orders from the higher-ups.

"My unit was going to be part of Operation Firestorm. Basically, Marjah was a city in Afghanistan. The US had held Marjah for a while since 2010, but then the Taliban decided to take it back. My unit was one of the Army units to be sent in to retake the city. My buddy died just outside the city limits. More under my command died that day."

"Sounds like you've been through hell." Haru said. "I blamed myself for him and the others that day. I thought it was my fault that my friends were killed just as they were gonna go home." I mumbled. "Looks like you made it out okay." Haru turned around, his blue eyes staring back at me. "No, I did not." I said, "A part of me was left in Afghanistan. In that city. In that ditch."

"You and your friends wanted to go home." Haru mumbled. "Not my friend. He came from an abusive family. He joined the Army to escape. He wanted to die out there, not in New Orleans. In the end, he got his wish.

"I've lost more people in my life and in my squad. Life is hell and losing people makes it more hellish. War is hell and losing people makes it even more hellish. Over time, I have learned to live for the fallen, to make sure their lessons and sacrifice was worth it."

"That guy. Johnny Black. He said you was a dead man. I think you're marked." Haru said. "I'm always marked. Back home, someone every now and then would call me a baby killer. Life of a soldier in a world where times are a-changing." I said.

A white screen popped up in front of me. I jumped when it appeared, but it's harmless. It was a message. It read:

From: Asuna  
To: Team D  
Subject: Orders from Commander  
Please come to the main base ASAP! You have special orders from Heathcliff. Sgt. Hashimoto and the rest of Team D, hurry up!

"Uh, I gotta go. Do you wanna come with?" I asked Haru. "Fine, I'll go with you." he said, standing up.

 **Later, at the base**

"Sir." I saluted Heathcliff as he was sitting down in his chair behind his desk. Naomi, Miya, and Haru stood behind me. "At ease." he said. I dropped my hand. "So, what do you need, sir?" I asked. "I have very special orders for you." he folded his hands. "I know sir. Asuna somewhat debriefed me on the way here." I said.

Asuna met up with me and my group at the inn and basically told me that I had orders. One that is very important. She didn't have any real information for me, so that didn't help.

"As you know, you asked Asuna and her team yesterday to help you on your mission, right? There has only been one casualty in the battle." he said. I turned around to look at Haru, who looked kinda sick in his stomach. "Yes, sir." I said. "I was reading what you call after mission reports from Asuna and she told me that 'men in black attacked your group, just as you expected. One of their men was named Johnny Black.' So, we could say that we have a new enemy other than these bosses and floors in our way." he said.

"What are you saying, sir?" I asked, turning back around to face my CO. "I want you and your team to face our new enemy." he told me. _He wants me to fight this group of assholes._ "Sir, casualties will be expected." I predicted. "You of all people should know that." he said. He shifted in his seat. "I want you to fight this new guild and all possible red guilds in this game." I looked back to my friends. "So?" I asked, "Who's in?"

"I'm in." Naomi and Miya said at the same time. They both stared each other down after that. Cute. I looked towards Haru. After a quick silent conversation using our eyes, he agreed. "Johnny Black killed on my sister. He's number one on my shit list." he said. "Hooah." I exclaimed the US Army battle cry.

"Okay. Now, the way you do this is up to you. Just don't use the guild's resources. Also, you would have to accompany us at least most of the time. Is that okay?"

"Sir yes sir." I saluted again. "Dismissed, Sarge." he said.

 _We got our orders. We capture or kill these murderers._

I walked out of the office with my friends behind me. "So, are you guys really up for this?" I asked when we got to the end of the hallway. "What do you mean?" asked Naomi. "Like, you will have to risk your life with this." I said. "So? We risk our lives everyday." Miya chimed in. "I know, I just don't want you to die on me." I said. "Don't worry. You know me." Naomi smirked. "Mmhm." Miya said in a sarcastic tone. "I've saved your ass, so shut up!" Naomi snapped. "I'll probably be saving your ass many times." Miya argued. The girls started bickering again.

I looked at Haru, who was watching the girls argue. His face was like a stone, unchanging. I've never seen him smile. He's emotionless. It's sorta scaring me. "You alright?" I asked Haru. "Yeah, I am." he replied. "You really up for this?" I asked. "Johnny Black's a dead man." he grunted. "Well, if you see him, tell me. I'll handle it." I said.

"No. He's fucking dead." he said confidently. "Kid, we catch him if we can. We don't kill unless we absolutely need to." I explained to him. "He's still a dead man." He murmured. _He really wants to kill him._

We got our orders that day. We are gonna combat this new enemy with Haru, Naomi, and Miya. I am leading the charge here.

I'm a Ranger. Rangers lead the way.

Rangers lead the way.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! It's the Sanman. Third week of school, already cramming with projects and other stuff. Anyways, here we see Shi and his group, accompanied by Haru, on a special assignment by the KoB. Straight from the top, the order coming from Heathcliff. Will Shi and his group catch these murderous fucks? Or will they die trying? Stay tuned for more! As always, Rangers lead the way.**


	7. Rainbow Sprinkles and Freedom

_**Rainbow Sprinkles and Freedom**_

 **July fourth floor 32: Town of Vellbeck**

Fourth of July. American Independence day. As a former serviceman, I should be happy. Happy that America has been free for two hundred and fifty years. But, I'm not free now. Me, Naomi, Miya, Haru, and everyone else in this fucking game is not free.

But, it's still the Fourth of July. Hell yeah America! The sun started to rise in the mountains to the east of the town of Vellbeck. We were staying at a local inn that day. We were on the frontlines again, but I haven't ran into any of those fuckers who killed Haru's sister Kit.

I opened my eyes slowly. "Ugh." I muttered as I blinked the stars out of my eyes. But, I didn't get up quickly. I felt something on my chest. "The hell?" I murmured. I looked down. A pale arm rested on my chest that rose and fell with each passing breath.

"Uh" was all I could say without waking the woman next to me. Naomi's arm was draped on my chest, as if she was hugging me. Trying not to move, I looked to my side. There, her still and beautiful face mesmerized me. Even when she was drooling, she was cute. I also felt some sort of pressure on my arm. Looking down to my arm, I saw something that made me paralyzed.

 _Oh God._ I thought as I felt her, um, thingies hugging my arms. I could feel myself turning red, my ears hearing the sound of my blood racing in my veins. I don't know if I should move or not. As both sides of my brain are debating, Naomi started to move a little.

"Cotton candy for me you bitch." she muttered in her sleep. _The fuck is she dreaming about?_

"Get that monkey. He stole my purse." she muttered again. _Must be one of those ridiculous ass dreams where nothing makes sense._

She moved her arm off me and grabbed one of her, cough cough, boobs, cough cough. But at least I can move now. I'm free! As carefully as I can, I took off the covers and, barefooted, tiptoed out of the room before you can say "Hooah!"

I equipped my uniform and other necessities. I noticed the room where Miya and Haru slept had the door open a crack. Haru does this every morning now. He would sneak out of the room early and go to his favorite spot. Every major town has a church with a tower, so I instinctively hurried over there.

Haru sat at the edge of the tower, his legs dangling out into the empty space. This tower was a little different. The tower back on floor 25 was bare and didn't have anything in it. This tower had a green brass bell.

"You know, you don't have to keep coming here." Haru said. He turned around, his surfer blond hair glistening in the morning sun.

"Looks like you need the company." I said, leaning against the brass bell. Haru chuckled. I sat down next to him, my legs dangling from the tower as well. "Besides, it's quiet up here." I said.

"I like to come here. I like to have my legs sticking out of these towers. It reminds me of my father." he said, "When he took me out for a spin in his helicopter, sometimes I would sit in the back of his Huey. I would have my legs dangling out of the chopper like those soldiers on TV."

"That's dangerous." I said, smirking. I was imagining a little kid in combat gear flying in a helicopter. That made me laugh on the inside.

"Yeah, well I was strapped down." Haru laughed, "I'm not strapped down anymore. I can move and do anything. Just until I got stuck here." _Oh yeah. We're still stuck here._

"When we get back to the real world, you'll be able to do anything." I said, walking up to Haru. I sat down next to him, crossing my legs.

"I don't plan on going back." he said. _What does he mean by not going back?_

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean that I would help you and Miya and Naomi and everyone else in this game!" he exclaimed, "But I won't come back! I will never come back! I can't go back."

"Yes you can," I commanded, "That's an order." _Don't tell me he's gonna kill himself._

"No I can't!" he yelled, "I can't go back!" Tears started streaming from his eyes. He covered his face with his hands and cried. "I can't go back!" he sobbed, "Not when my only family has died here! Kit has died here! Here in this fucking game!"

I kneeled next to him. "I will get you back into the real world. I promise you." I told him. "How? A part of me will forever be here. You may bring my mind and body to the real life, but I myself will forever stay here." Haru looked at me.

 _A part of me was left in Afghanistan_ was whatI wanted to say, but I decided not to. Instead I said this: "Anyways, let's at least do something today. Hell, it's the fourth of July! I'm an American. Let's do something!"

That seemed to lighten the mood. Haru wiped the tears from his eyes, the drops of water becoming drops of light. "What should we do?" asked Haru, standing up and staring at me.

"Let's let off some steam," I suggested, "let's go to the amphitheater."

 **Later, in the city amphitheater**

There was an amphitheater in each major city where people come to watch duels. But today, there was no one there, so it was a good chance to teach Haru how to fight.

Our swords clashed and locked together. I could see Haru with his face of determination. He grimaced a bit, but then he pushed hard. I stumbled and fell onto by ass. There, he stood over me. "Good job, mate." I complimented Haru in an Australian accent.

"Don't talk like an Aussie ever again." he smiled. He reached out to me with a hand and I took it. He pulled me back to my feet.

We have been fighting in the amphitheater. I was teaching him how to fight without using skills. I was teaching him how to fight without power. It was like when my dad was teaching me how to fight bullies in middle school. "Appear weak when you are strong," I remembered him quoting off of Sun Tzu's Rules of War, "and strong when you are weak."

In about a minute, we were back at it again. "Okay, keep your defense up. The best defense is the best offense. Wear out your opponent and then strike when he's tired as hell." I explained. Haru nodded in affirmation. "Alright. Let's get back at it again."

And again our blades were interlocked. I could see the fire in Haru's eyes. _He really wants to fight those killers._ I backed up quickly, dodging a few swings of Haru's silver blade. I ducked from one of his wide swings, leaving him wide open. It was the perfect opportunity. I got my sword ready and dug the blade right into his stomach. He fell backwards.

"I told you to keep your defense up." I smirked as Haru sat back up. He wasn't losing any health since we were in a safe zone. We haven't initiated a duel, so there's no way any of us would die.

"Damn it!" he yelled in frustration. He stood up and pulled out the sword in his gut. "I will never be able to do this!" Haru tossed the sword aside.

"Hey, it's alright. It takes practice." I assured him. I put a hand on his shoulder and said "We'll get those fuckers." The sun was already rising up into the blue sky. Up in the seating area, Naomi and Miya watched us spar, and by spar, I meant me wiping Haru's ass all over the amphitheater floor.

Many times, Haru would fall down because of me. And every time, he would get frustrated. And every time, I would try to calm him down. And every time, Naomi and Miya would make fun of me whenever I failed to calm him down. The cycle would go on and on.

After about ten times in, a voice called out from the entrance of the amphitheater "You guys want to see how the master does it?" I turned to look and saw the black swordsman himself leaning against the entryway.

"Fuck you Kirito!" I yelled back. Haru, Miya, and Naomi couldn't seem to refrain from laughing. I'm actually glad that Haru's somewhat fine now. Kirito smiled and walked up to us.

"Glad to see you still soldiering on!" he remarked as he walked up to me. "Glad to see you're still cocky as hell." I said back. He chuckled.

"Oh come'ere man!" I said as I pulled him in for a quick bro-hug.

"Ey, if you're gonna hug me any longer, you gonna have to say 'no homo'." I joked after we hugged for about a second longer than it should have been. We stepped back as Naomi and Miya walked up to us.

"Hey." Miya waved a hand to Kirito. "Wassup?" asked Naomi.

"Eh, nothing much." said Kirito, "As I was saying, shall we see how the master teaches the apprentice?"

 _Guy's still cocky. Still acts like a beater. Badass._ "Yeah," I said, "let's get to it!"

I proceeded to sit down up in the seating area while watching the two duel it out. Haru charged Kirito with a vengence, slashing and hacking blindly. "Defense, numbnuts!" I yell out as I watched Kirito block the barrage of strikes intended to hit him. Haru was worn out easily and Kirito ran around him and brought him from behind. Haru fell down hard.

"Looks like Haru ain't doing so hot." Naomi smirked as she sat down to my right. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"Well, he's gotta start somewhere." Miya sat down to the left of me. I saw Haru standing up again and start going all angry while Kirito tried to calm him down.

"C'mon Haru!" yelled Naomi with her cupped hands over her mouth to act as a bullhorn, "How are you gonna get us outta here?"

"This feels like you and I are at some sort of game for our son, with you egging him on and me silently watching." I muttered.

I could see Naomi smile and blush. And before you say that I'm clueless, I'll tell you to shut up. I ain't an idiot. I know her and Miya are into me. I just... I just don't want to say that I like Naomi because what about Miya? How will she feel? It ain't good for unit cohesion. That happened back there and, well, look how that turned out.

"What do you think of Haru, Shi?" asked Miya.

"Too cocky and arrogant," I said, "It's gonna get him killed." I could see Ryan in Haru. _Ryan._ He was my best friend. The one who was killed in that ditch. He was really cocky over in Afghanistan. His cockiness got him killed.

I shook off that thought. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ "He's only fifteen Shi." Miya murmured. "Only fifteen?" I squeaked. _Fifteen? Hell, I thought he oughta be, like, nineteen._

"Yeah, fifteen." Miya answered. _Damn, there has been fucking kids in this game._

Clang! Haru blocked a swing from Kirito and their blades were in the middle of a tug of war. "Rah!" Haru roared and pushed as hard as he can. Kirito stumbled back until he tripped. _Finally!_

Naomi and Miya applauded Haru. I did too. "Maybe we might get through this after all." I muttered under my breath. "Huh?" Naomi tried to hear what I said.

"Nevermind." I answered. Haru looked toward us with fire in his eyes and smirked. "Good job!" I called out. He bowed from the waist.

"Sergeant Shi!" a voice yelled from the entrance, echoing through the amphitheater. I turned my head to look. There stood a guy in white and red armor sporting the arms of the Knight of the Blood Oath. Don't recognize him though. Kid looks pretty young.

"What is it, son?" I called back. The girls and I stood up and started walking towards him.

"Teams A and C are in a fight out in the Badlands." he pointed east. To the east were the Badlands, a series of canyons creating a labyrinth in the rocks. It was like navigating a frigging ant mound.

"Monsters?" I asked as I got to the entrance.

"No," he shook his head, "Laughing Coffin."

I felt myself turning pale. _Laughing Coffin_. That fucking guild. That guy, Johnny Black. He's part of that guild. The guild that kills. Laughing Coffin was on the frontline's shit list. They were a red guild filled with murderers and psychopaths. And Johnny Black was there. Kit's killer was there. My mission was to take out Laughing Coffin and any other murder guild.

In Afghanistan, there is no room for error. In here, it's the same story.

"They're surrounded and cornered in a dungeon. I barely got outta there." the kid said. I could hear the horror in his voice and see the fear in his eyes. "You gotta help," he said, "please. They're stuck in a safe zone, but without food and supplies, they'll starve."

So the two teams in a siege inside a safe zone in a dungeon. Those safe zones are supposed to keep players safe by having them not be able to take damage in there, but you can surround the safe zone with lots of people, basically cutting them off from their food supply. Kayaba thought it was a good idea to put a hunger system in the game for immersion. Damn, I will strangle him when we get outta here.

I turned towards my comrades. "Well? Should we help?" I asked them.

"Yeah, let's do this." Miya said. I looked to Naomi. She just nodded in agreement.

"Haru? What about you?" I asked the nineteen-year-old kid. _Shi, why are you asking a kid?_

"Those bitches had it coming." Haru mumbled. I could still see the fire burning brightly in his eyes.

"What about you, Ki?" I asked the man in black.

"I'll go." he replied. I smirked.

"Alright!" I yelled, "Let's give them a taste of freedom!" We got our mission. Free our buddies from enemy hands. They were surrounded in

I'm a soldier. I always accomplish my mission.

I'm a Ranger. Rangers lead the way.

Rangers lead the way.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! It's the Sanman. Nothing much going on. School's starting to get boring again. Anyways, so we see Shi and his squad with a new mission objective to break this siege between the murderous Laughing Coffin and the honorable Knights of the Blood Oath. Will Delta Squad rescue the beleaguered allies? Or will the two teams starve to death? Also, this chapter feels very familiar. I just don't know why. Anyways, u** **ntil next time, soldier on! This is the Sarge, signing out!**


	8. The Siege

_**The Siege**_

 **The Badlands**

"Doesn't look good." I stated as I watched the safe zone our boys were penned in by three sides. About forty Laughing Coffin members surrounded the beleaguered guys. I saw a clear barrier which marks the safe zone in there. They were in a siege. They should have brought enough food for a few days to say the most. But, they'll starve if we don't.

The zone was basically in the middle of an intersection in the labyrinth of dark brown rocks, one side of the safe zone covered in debris that was in the way of the fourth exit, successfully caging teams A and C in with the enemy players blocking off all other escape routes. Whoever blocked off that way, fuck you. The sun was already up at high noon. It's really fucking hot in that canyon.

Haru, Miya, Naomi, and I were scouting the area, seeing what is the best plan of attack. The kid, whose name was Riku, stayed with the rest of the KoB personnel and Kirito who were on standby. They were waiting for the green light. Also, apparently our guys were stuck in this siege for a couple days now.

They could be starving if we don't give them food. If they haven't eaten anything within two days, they will slowly lose health over time. If they are hungry for a whole day, they will die. Laughing Coffin is trying to starve 'em out.

"So how will we do it?" asked Miya. Everyone spoke softly to limit the echo in the canyon.

"I'm thinking." I said. We could either attack one side head on to give someone time to deliver some supplies, but that plan could end up with someone dying. Or we could take them at all sides and work our way in. But dividing our troops would be hard. We'll be outnumbered.

"Our position is compromised," Naomi stated, "Someone saw us."

I looked at the enemy troops and saw one guy staring at us. _Shit. They know we're here._ "Let's get out!" I yelled, the enemy players all turning their heads towards me. "Go go go!" I yelled. I looked at the enemies one more time and saw that they were running towards us. Me being me, I stuck up a profane finger towards the dickheads and ran away.

We all met up at the nearest safe zone. Out of breath, I slumped back onto a nearby wall and collapsed. Miya and Naomi were standing in the middle of the zone. _Fuckers know we are gonna try to get our guys out. Shit._

"How are we gonna do this?" asked Naomi, who sat down onto the rocky ground.

"I don't know." I said, taking a flask of water from my inventory and popped off the cap.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Miya said in a sort of angry tone. Miya doesn't like it if she or anyone in our party knows what to do. I've learned that the hard way multiple times.

"I, uh, just don't know what to do." I said.

It was really silent afterward. A little too silent. Where was Haru? Shit, where is he? "Where is Haru?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Miya and Naomi looked around in search for the kid. He was nowhere to be seen. "You don't think..." I muttered. Miya looked at me with a worried face. I looked to Naomi, who silently told me that the kid was gone. _Oh, FUCK!_

"Son of a bitch." I murmured as I tossed aside the bottle. _Kid must've gone back. Shit, he's gonna get himself killed!_ "We gotta go!" I commanded. _Damn it Haru!_

We ran through the labyrinth of the dungeon. We ran and ran to the safe zone. _I hope I'm not late!_

When we got there, I already saw Haru surrounded. "Haru!" I yelled out. Son of a bitch didn't respond. He was locked into a fight with four people ganging up on him as their friends watched. I pulled out my sword and ran into the fray, the girls right behind me.

I jumped over the crowd that has gathered to egg on their comrades as they fought the determined Haru. The girls followed my actions and engaged the enemy players fighting the crazy kid called Haru.

The KoB guys watched in horror, unable to take on the people who held them stuck in the first place. Some of them were too hungry to move. Man, I hate this hunger system. The Pain Absorber doesn't block out this hunger pang shit that these guys must be feeling.

One guy saw me and tried to stop me. He proceeded to stab me, but I ducked under his blade and stabbed him back. He disappeared in a flash of light. _One down, a shit ton of fuckers left._ I turned to engage another guy who was trying to kill Naomi.

"I got your back!" I yelled to Naomi, whose blade was locked into a tug of war with another robed guy. I chopped off the guy's arms at the wrist in one clean swipe. His sword and hands disappeared. The guy turned to look at me. I jumped and kicked the guy in the chest, knocking him back into the crowd.

"Ah!" Haru yelled. I turned around and saw him on the ground. The safe zone was right behind him. There was a guy standing over the defeated Haru. "Shit!" I exclaimed. The guy raised a blade in preparation to strike the final blow. One of the KoB members somehow bent down and quickly dragged Haru into the safe zone, causing the guy to miss his swing.

"Alright! Fall back!" I commanded. I turned and saw Miya duck from some dude's swing. I got my blade ready and stabbed the guy right into his flank while he was busy with Miya. His body disappeared into a mist of light.

"Go go go!" I yelled. Just as quickly as we came, we got the hell outta Dodge. We split up after a bit of running to confuse the bastards in case they gave chase to us.

 **Thirty minutes later, Vellbeck**

We met up in the town of Vellbeck. Haru was now stuck in the safe zone with the rest of our besieged troops. Kid disobeyed orders. He's in big fucking trouble now. I sat on one of the benches in the city park. Naomi and Miya were stocking up on supplies at a nearby shop.

"Hey." a voice called out behind me. I turned around and saw Kirito standing there. He stayed with the strike team, preparing them to fight.

"Yo." I responded. He sat down next to me. "What's the situation?" asked the black swordsman.

"About forty guys ready to fuck us up. We were spotted and we tried to run away. Haru went against orders to retreat and engaged those fuckers. He managed to stay alive for a while before we came back. He's now stuck in the safe zone." I explained.

"Well, at least we got a guy on the inside." Kirito commented. Just as he said that, a message popped up. It was from Haru. "Speak of the devil." I said.

The message said "I'm sorry for not following what you said. I couldn't help it. Anyways, the Laughing Coffin members are asking us to surrender. What should I say?" I started typing on the screen in reply. "Nuts!" my message said. I tapped send and the message sent.

"Nuts?" asked Kirito, who opened his menu.

"Yeah, well, I was referring to this thing from World War Two." I said.

"World War Two?" Kirito asked, closing his menu up.

"In the Battle of the Bulge, Americans were in a siege in the city of Bastogne. The Germans asked if they wanted to surrender and the Allies replied with 'Nuts!' in big bold letters on a piece of paper." I said.

"Badass." Kirito mumbled. Naomi and Miya finished up doing their thing in the shop and came over to where Kirito and I were sitting at.

"Hey boys." Naomi said as she sat down on the bench beside ours. Her and Miya were still wearing their white and red armor. I saw Naomi sit crosslegged while Miya was slumped on her bench.

"Y'all finished shopping?" I asked the girls.

"Yeah, we are. Potions aplenty." she said as she opened her menu. After a couple taps, a window popped up in front of me, the message saying "1,000x potions from Naomi. Do you accept?" and I tapped on the blue checkmark. Fifty potions appeared in my inventory.

"How much money did you spend?" I asked. I was hoping to save our funds to eventually buy a house for some R and R.

"Hundred thousand." she replied. _What the hell? That's a lotta money!_

I frowned. What the hell? We don't need that much shit! "Don't you think that's a little bit overkill?" I asked after taking a deep-ass breath. I saw the girls turn red. _Making them nervous, Shi._ "Okay, doesn't matter anymore. Least we got something to use."

 **Two hours later, "Forward Operating Base" Mercy**

The "Forward Operating Base" (notice the quotation marks) was nothing more than a cave with a table. It's really just a meeting place. But with me being in the military, I like to call this an FOB.

Our men and Asuna stood around a small wooden desk with a map of the Badlands on it, the smooth limestone walls providing some dull lighting. Naomi, Miya, and Heathcliff stood next to me. "Okay," I explained the plan that I came up with, "our guys out there are starting to get hungry. We have two choices. A: we will attack from one side, that side taking the brunt of the shit we throw. Or B: we can take all sides at once. The first group to penetrate their defenses get our boys out while we keep the other occupied. What do you guys think?"

"I say we go with A." stated Naomi, who leaned against the desk. _She's really gonna aggro these guys._

"No! We go with B!" Asuna pounded on the table. "We need to think this through. If we attack one side, the other sides will quickly reinforce that side. Knowing common sense, they will leave some guards on the other two sides. Our guys in there won't be able to fight because they'll be too weak and hungry. If we send some of our men to another side, the main force will be outnumbered."

 _That is true. We need all of our guys to fight just one side. But on the other hand, if we split up and attack all three sides, we'll be outnumbered as well. We just have to pick a better evil. I just don't wanna have anyone else to die on my watch. Not again._

I found myself at that hilltop base just before Firestorm. I remembered sitting on one of the benches waiting for a Black Hawk to come. "Relax, brother. We'll get back home before you know it." Ryan sat next to me, his blond hair being held back by his helmet, "I know you'll see this mission through and we'll be on our way home. Or at least you." Behind us, soldiers prepped their combat gear and checked their weapons. A couple light brown Humvees drove past us. This Black Hawk is pretty late.

"Don't say that, man." I told my best friend. I know he didn't wanna go back. Back to New Orleans. Back home. Back to that bastard of a father.

"I belong here." he mumbled over the ruckus behind us.

"Please, just come home. I don't want to come home with a man left behind."

"Even if that man wants to be left behind?"

"Yes. I do."

"If I do, drinks on you, got it?"

"Whatever man." I hit the soldier on his helmeted head.

I heard a muffled voice. I couldn't discern who the hell the person is or what he/she is saying. It started to become clearer and clearer. I could hear what is the person saying. "Shi! Shi!" I heard someone say. "Shi!"

I blinked. I'm back in that cave in that danmed cave in that danmed game. Miya stood in front of me. "Shi! Hello? You okay?" she tried to get my attention.

"Uh, ye, yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." I stuttered. But, I'm really not. I'm at a dead end. I don't know what the hell I should do. No matter what I chose, I'm still gonna put someone's life in danger. I'm still gonna have blood on my hands.

Miya put a hand on my shoulder. "You sure?" she asked. I just noticed that her eyes sparkled even though there was no light in the cave. She still has that sparkle everywhere. I dunno, I just never noticed that before.

"Don't worry about me. Worry about our guys out there."

"What do we do?"

I turned to Heathcliff, who adjusted a lock of grey hair that was in his eye. "Sir, you're the CO. What should we do?" I asked.

"I told you. I just leave the leaders to make these decisions."

"Sir, half of our leaders are out there. I don't know what to do."

"Well, I say we go with option A. Attack from the west side. Reports told me that they have lower level players there." he stated.

"But sir-" Asuna tried to speak up as Heathcliff interrupted her.

"But nothing. We will break this siege quickly and get our guys out ASAP. They are starving and we won't be able to help them if we take it carefully."

"Okay," I announced, "We got our orders. I will meet you at the gates at fourteen hundred. Dismissed!" The men and I made our way out of the cave. I felt a tapping on my shoulder.

"Sergeant." I saw Riku look up at me. "Please, get my friends out there. Please, I'm begging you."

I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and said "I've dealt with this before. They're gonna be okay. I promise."

"I know you will see this mission through and we will be back at HQ soon."

 _That is what Ryan said to me back on base. Just before the mission that was fucked up beyond any recognition._

I promised that I would bring them back. _Promises are dangerous._

 **Two o'clock in the afternoon, gates of Vellbeck**

The sun was still hot as fuck at two in the afternoon. It was still perched up high, it's bright beams of light bearing down on our men. We waited for all of the rest of our troops. Haru and our other guys are out there. By the end of the day, they will starve to death.

 _What a terrible way to die._ Our boys would die from a lack of food. Let's go give it to them.

Asuna's squad and Kirito finally arrived. "Let's go!" I hollered as Asuna approached me.

"Are you sure about this?" Asuna asked as we walked to the Badlands.

"About what?" I asked.

"About this. About your plan. Is it gonna work?"

"Well, we gotta do something before they die. It's either all of us get outta here alive or none of us."

"Sir, this is probably suicidal."

"No man left behind. Army motto. I can't handle not doing this."

We walked in silence to where the safe zone was. The canyon started narrowing the farther we walked. Soon, it would become a chokepoint, with us at the bottleneck. We kept walking and walking. God, I don't like this. It's like we're walking into a trap.

And walked into a trap we did. Somewhat. When we saw the safe zone, the Laughing Coffin members charged at us. But something was off. There was barely anyone protecting the north and south entrance. Our boys were now tied up, bound by the wrists and ankles and were kneeling on the ground. Haru was struggling with his bonds with no avail.

 _Where the hell is everyone else?_

Suddenly, we were surrounded. Hooded Laughing Coffin members popped out of the rocks behind us. Kirito probably missed them or their Hiding level was higher than his Searching level.

Slashing and hacking with my white sword, I tried to fend the unrelenting onslaught of enemy players. I tried running towards the safe zone to cut Haru and the others free, but I was stopped by something.

"Shit!" I exclaimed as some crazy hooded asshole jumped in front of me and swung his small ax wildly. The blade of his ax was small and it seemed hollow in the middle like a hacksaw. There was an inscription on it, but I don't know what it said because the fucker kept swinging it around. He swung again and left himself open, but I didn't have my sword ready so I just tackled him. The ax fell out of his hands.

I tossed my sword aside because I couldn't do anything due to me being too close to the guy. I was on top of him, beating the shit outta him with my fists of iron. Punch after punch, the robed asshole had bright red markings on his face.

I heard a woman scream from behind me. I jumped and rolled out of the way, not even thinking about who it was. When I finally saw the person, she stood by the guy, helping him up. She wore a dark hood that covered her head and held a spear in her hand. She looked to me and charged towards me.

"Fuck!" I yelled as I rolled out of the way, her spear narrowly missing me. She dropped her spear and took out her knife. Odd. Why would she? I couldn't ponder on the question for too long because she was trying to stab me many times. I blocked and blocked each swing, eventually slapping it out of her hands. It landed beside us.

Now it was an even fight. I threw a quick jab, but she dodged it. She tried to throw an uppercut, which hit me below my chin. I reeled back, still pretty dazed about what happened.

I gritted my teeth and threw a flurry of jabs. Which she all blocked. _How the hell is she beating me?_ I thought. She then threw a wide hook. Too wide. I leaned back to dodge it, then went for it. I sucker punched her in the stomach, her figure being thrown back.

That's when I got tackled hard. The other guy pinned my arms to my side and sat on my stomach. Then, he started beating the shit out of me. Punch after punch, my head was thrown around after each shot.

I could feel myself blacking out. I was slowly getting tunnel vision. Blood raced in my ears. As I laid there, I kept wondering _Is this it? Is this the end?_ I didn't know this is how I was gonna go out. I'd rather go out under a hail of gunfire, not pummeled to death.

The guy stopped punching me for a bit. As I tried to regain my senses, I could hear the sound of a knife being picked up from a rock. _Shit! He's got a knife!_ I opened my eyes wide. _No! I am not gonna die today!_ I raised my hands into the air to defend myself as I saw the guy hold the knife above his head ready to bring the killing blow.

He swung. But, my hands intercepted his arms. I held his wrists by my hands, the blade of his knife practically one inch from my throat. "No, please, please." I whimpered as the metal dagger got closer and closer to me.

"Go ahead. Cry. Cry. Cry! I want to hear the fear in your voice and see it in your eyes!" the guy laughed as he pushed harder and harder.

I tried my hardest to keep his knife from me. I half groaned/ half moaned as I used the rest of my energy in my body to keep him from killing me. I could hear my voice shaking and my breath becoming unstable by the second. I could hear myself hyperventilating, my chest rising and falling quickly. I yelled one last yell in defiance.

 _Lord,_ I prayed to myself, _I know I haven't been going to church and I haven't been praying since... you know._ _But, if I have to die, let me die in peace. I am sorry for my sins. I am sorry for the killing. And most of all, I'm sorry for forgetting You. Please, if I have to die, let Naomi, Miya, and Haru, as well as any other person I have met, to get outta here alive. Please, you are my last line of defense. You are my Rock, on which I build my church._

I was kind of religious when I was younger. My parents were practicing Christians and they would bring me to church every Sunday. But, when I got out of high school, I slowly drifted away from God. After Firestorm, I forgot Him as I went down into a deep hole. I believed that He gave up on me when I gave up on him. I thought He had given up on me. Boy, I couldn't be more wrong.

I heard the sound of flesh being torn. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the tables have turned once again. The guy was still on top of me but was sitting upright. He had my sword stuck in his gut, the hilt sticking out of his back. He slowly turned around to face the attacker. It was that woman, who was standing there with a stone face. The one who had been beating my ass earlier.

"Wh- Why? Why did you do this?" the guy stammered. The woman didn't budge. "I thought you were my friend." he said under his breath. The woman bent down and picked up the ax that (apparently) was right next to her. She raised it above her head as if to get ready to strike the guy, who was now cowering behind his arms that were in the air.

She swung. He screamed. "Ah!" he cried out as his body disappeared into light.

"Because you were not my friend." she muttered. She then looked at me. I back up, thinking she was gonna kill me. She just dropped her ax to the ground and stared at me with blank eyes. We stayed still for what felt like an eternity until I don't know who it was, maybe Kirito or Naomi, but I don't really remember, but someone tied her up and practically arrested her.

Somehow, we won the battle with no casualties. All of our men were accounted for. We won. I just didn't notice it because I was getting my ass beat. I remembered cutting Haru out of his bonds myself. I remembered him just hugging and apologizing me.

I don't remember anything else. It's all just a blur afterward. I was really tired. I just went home. Yesterday, it was the Fourth of July. Today, it was just the fifth. Today wasn't a special day. It was just another day in our lives here. Almost one fucking year, but we're not out yet.

 _Oh Lord, thank you for the save. Now, help me find the way out and I will lead them._

Rangers lead the way.

* * *

 **A/N: Let's see how many words there a- OH MY GOD! 4,000 WORDS! THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER SO FAR! IF MY CHAPTER'S AREN'T LONG ENOUGH! In other news, school is already starting to screw me up badly. But, it doesn't matter. In this chapter, we saw Shi and his friends save Haru and the rest of the KoB who were besieged by the LC. Now, the guild is at the top of his shitlist. How will he take these guys down? Stay tuned for more!**


	9. Cliches

_**Cliches**_

I could've died, but I didn't. That woman could've just let the guy kill me, but she did not. I don't get it. Why? Why did she spare me? Is it because of someone up high was watching? Was God watching? I don't know. I just went home after that. I couldn't sleep. My mind kept wandering through the shit load of memories in SAO and Afghanistan. They're memories that prevented me from going to sleep. I just gave up.

In the middle of the night, I tried to sneak out of the room. Only a creak of the floorboards was heard. Naomi, who slept next to me, didn't wake. I dared not to wake her. As I walked out of the door of the inn, I equipped my regular clothes. A white and red coat with a hood that made me look like a hawk. I left the hood down. _I wonder what I should do?_

Most everyone was asleep at this time. I am used to waking up pretty late into the night. Back in Afghanistan, my base would be under attack by a couple numb-nuts every other month or so. No one died except anyone who dared attack, US military might and all.

Bored, I decided to go to the hunting grounds. Hell, maybe I could get some money from the shit that I sell afterward. Five minutes later, I was wandering through the misty fields. As I walked the brown dirt path, I began thinking. The hills rose and fell as I walked. It's a good exercise, but how in the hell can I be exercising if my real body was not in control? Are we ever going to get back our own bodies?

"Hey." a voice interrupted my little train of thought running its tracks in my head. I turned to look at who said that. There I saw Miya, sitting against an oak tree at the top of a hill. She wore her light blue spaghetti strap dress that she got a little while back. Her bare legs were tucked into her arms. She seems relaxed. It's a pretty good place to chill, to be honest.

"Uh, hey." I stuttered, climbing up the hill to where Miya sat. The moon and the stars above us shone as it showed us the low mist settling down onto the lush, green mounds of dirt. I probably heard some crickets in the silence of the night. I leaned against the wooden trunk of the tree, standing right next to Miya.

"What are you doing out here late at night?" I asked. I didn't expect anyone to be up, at least my teammates to say the least.

"I just decided to go out. Clear my mind, ya know?" Miya looked up at me. Like in the cave, her eyes still sparkled. Her innocent face was staring right at the hardened veteran that was me. Seriously, how had I not noticed that now?

"I see you. Especially because of the things we've been through." I said. Miya still stared at me with her shimmering eyes.

"Yeah," she tucked her head into her arms and legs, "The things we've been through." I could hear the shallow breaths and see her shoulders rising and falling from her crying. I kneeled down next to her and comforted her with my arm.

"Hey, you alright?" I said after a small moment of silence.

"No," she looked back at me, "I'm not alright." Her eyes were already red from crying. A little bit of snot dripped down from her nose. It seemed kinda cute, if you're not seeing a woman really cry, and in this case, she was. She tucked her head back into her arms. "I'm not alright.

"I watched you back in the canyon. You were about to die. When I saw you, I almost cried. I seem like I have gotten over my boyfriend, but I really can't handle seeing another friend die in front of me."

I felt like I was back in Afghanistan. Firestorm. I felt like I was back in Marjah. I felt like I was there at that intersection, where I saw her... Taylor got shot. _Taylor._ After I lost her, Ryan and I felt like we couldn't handle anything else. Taylor... was Ryan's girlfriend. We were really good friends, the three of us. We could barely be separated. When she died, Ryan turned into another person. It made him want to stay in 'Stan more. Later that day, he got what he wanted.

"I can't handle losing another friend. I've lost him, I can't do it. I just can't." Miya started crying again.

"Hey, it's okay. I will keep us safe."

"And what about you? I don't want to lose you!"

"I'm a soldier. I would lay down my life for you."

"But I... I..." she struggled to find her words. I knew what she was gonna say. I knew she was gonna say that she loves me. She thinks that I don't know. But I do. How do I respond?

She took another deep breath as if she was to calm down. "You know what, just forget I said anything." Miya said as she tucked her head into her legs. _Good, I guess. At least I don't have to deal with a little more drama._

"Look, it's alright. I'll try to avoid dying if I can." I smiled.

Miya looked at me again with those eyes. She smirked as the final tears dripped down her cheeks and disappeared in a firework of lights. _We're gonna be alright, Shi._ I assured myself. God, help us get outta here, will ya?

I kissed her on her forehead as she leaned her head into my shoulder. I don't know how long, but I found Miya sleeping on me. Ever so carefully, I leaned her against the tree and climbed its wooden trunk to find a place to sleep. As I climbed, I thought to myself. What was Miya trying to say? Was I right? Will I end up in one of those fucking harems Ryan would watch back on base? Seriously, that dude can be a weird guy, with all his anime fetishes and stuff.

I just sat there in the crook of one of the branches of the oak tree. I had one leg propped up onto the branch and the other one hanging off the side. I basically balanced myself on that branch. I ended up falling asleep anyways. I was tired as shit from staying up. Wow, Kayaba was really going for that immersion thing with the hunger and fatigue shit. Good thing I didn't fall.

 **Morning**

Boom! Rat tat tat! The sound of war surrounded and blew out my eardrums.

"Get to cover! Get down!" I remembered yelling.

"I'm hit!" I saw a guy laying there on the road, his arm outstretched out to me. He was just out of reach. Another bullet turned a piece of his chest into pink mist. Behind me, another grenade sprayed dirt, debris, and sharapnel at us.

"Fuck these fuckers!" I yelled as I tried to crawl to the man's body.

"He's dead! Leave him!" I heard a friend say as I tried to get to the bleeding man.

Rat tat tat! Boom! Next to me, Ryan started to stand up to fire back. He was screaming something I didn't hear. I think I heard the name "Taylor" among the maelstrom of fire.

"Ryan! Stay do-!" That was all I could yell before my vision was covered with blood. Those were my last words to him.

Again with that dream! Every night now, I would find myself waking up in the middle of the night because of that dream. That scene of him dying keeps replaying in my head.

All I saw was black. I don't know if I was still in that shitty dream, or if I'm "awake" in SAO. But I did hear an ow. I couldn't feel my entire body, which was weird. I think I woke up from that nightmare and made myself fall out of the tree. I don't know what happened. The next thing I knew was that I was on the ground.

A groan was all I heard in my ears. That was it. I didn't hear, see, or feel anything else after a good minute or two. But, finally, I started to feel something. It first started from my left side of my body. I could feel the wet blades of what I thought was grass. I probably fell out of the tree when I woke up.

I then started to feel my torso. I felt a hand under my chest and I felt something sorta fleshy under me. _Did I land on someone?_ Then, I felt my right hand. It was under my body, feeling like it was holding something. Something squishy. My courageous and curious self started to squeeze whatever I was holding like a sponge. _I really do hope that is not what I think it is._

"Fuck." I murmured under my breath as I feared the worst. And of course, I was right. _God, this starting to become one of those anime shows the longer it goes. This fucking place is making more cliches than the movie Mean Girls. First the little love drama and now this bit._

"Yah!" I heard someone exclaim as my body was thrown aside like a baby's rag doll.

"And I'm dead!" I exclaimed abruptly as I fell down onto the hard ground with the grace of an eighteen wheeler. Seriously, you could've heard my ass hit the ground from a hundred yards away. I think she threw me up high enough for me to get fall damage.

"You perv!" I heard Miya's voice yell as I opened my eyes. The orange rising sun stung my eyes as their lids slowly opened. I saw the orange sky of the morning, white puffs of clouds dotting my vision. I sat up and rubbed the head as it spun around like a record. I looked towards Miya, who wore an angry face and was glaring at me. _Just my fucking luck._

"For the love of fuck, what happened?" I muttered under my breath. I saw her clutching her chest. _Yep. I grabbed it. Wow, that is so cliched that it's not even funny anymore._

"Are you going to say sorry?" she snapped at me.

"What, for grabbing your chest? Or lack thereof?" I joked. I'm gonna get my ass beat. I know it. "Seriously, it's pretty fl- Oh son of a bitch!" I exclaimed as I felt the kick that I was waiting for hitting my ribs.

"Dick." she said in an aggravating tone. I saw Miya standing over me with her face red as hell. I might've even seen steam coming from her nose and ears, but that was probably a mirage in the heat.

"Alright! Sorry! Jeez!" I raised my hands up in surrender.

"Yo Miya! If you're done beating up Shi, get him over here will ya?" I heard a female voice call out. I turned to look at who said it and there stood Naomi wearing a similar white and red dress that Miya was wearing standing on a nearby hill with Haru standing next to her, scrolling through his menu.

"Just finishing up!" Miya called back. She then turned back to me and shot me a disgusted look. If looks could kill, am I right? _Damn, she's really angry._ I thought just before she kicked me again.

"Okay woman I get it! Geez Louise you didn't have to do that!" I groaned as I slowly stood up. Note to self, don't fall asleep in trees.

I walked over to the crest of the hill where Naomi and Haru stood. "What's going on?" I asked Naomi as she smirked at me.

"First of all, we should fix that." she gestured to the red marks on my body that came from the beating. Everyone laughed but me. I just rolled my eyes.

"But seriously," I asked, "what's wrong?"

"You know that woman that we got yesterday?" answered Naomi with another question.

"Yeah? What about?" I cocked my head to the side.

"She's not talking," Haru explained, "We were trying to ask her things, but she just... sat there. She didn't say anything."

"Is she doing anything? Anything peculiar?"

"No, she just sat there. She just kept staring at her hands for some reason. You know why?" _That sounds familiar._

"Yeah. I might know why she's not talking."

 **Later, Black Iron Palace Prison**

"Is that her?" I asked as we peered into the room. There sat the woman. Her brown pixie hair and the white daisy that adorned it was visible under the brown hood that all Laughing Coffin members wear.

We were in the Black Iron Palace Prison. It was established by the Aincrad Liberation Force to detain criminals. The Army sometimes do this when they see someone violating the ethics code. Apparently, if you violate the ethics code for too long, you get teleported to some prison. This is one of the many prisons in Aincrad.

"Yeah, that's her." Naomi responded. We were watching the woman through a glass pane. This place seems like those cop interrogation rooms you see on TV. A special item that acts as a one-way mirror, stone walls, a couple of chairs, and a small wooden desk. I guess Kayaba put this little thing here for investigations.

"Should we go in?" Miya asked, leaning against the window. She still wore that dress she was wearing last night. Would've thought she would change clothes by now. Maybe it's just comfortable.

"Yeah. You should." Haru responded.

"What do you think?" Naomi asked me.

"She looks uncomfortable. That's probably one reason why she ain't talking. She also keeps staring at her hand. I've seen that before." I pointed out.

I've killed people back in Afghanistan before. I remembered after my first firefight, we were on patrol and we've taken some shots from somewhere. I remembered pivoting around and shooting one guy who was about to open fire on us. I saw the dude's body twitch as my bullets tore him to shreds. I was paralyzed after that. I just stared at my gun on the ride home.

Maybe that's why she keeps staring at her hand. It's like it's something foreign and dangerous because she killed that dude who was beating me up.

"Miya," I commanded while crossing my arms, "go in. Try to get her to talk. I want to see how she reacts to someone different." Naomi probably has been pressuring her to talk for the entire morning. Probably flipping a few chairs while she's at it. If the woman sees someone different, she might calm down.

Miya walked into the room and sat down in one of the chairs opposite to the woman. She started talking. "Hello. I'm Miya. You doing alright?" I heard her ask. There were no speakers or any amps inside, so she talked a little louder for us to hear. That's good. She's trying to get the woman to trust her. But, as I predicted, the woman didn't respond.

I looked at Naomi and asked her quietly, "What's her name again?" The girls on the opposite side of the window wouldn't be able to hear us.

Naomi looked back at me and replied, "Hana. That's her name." _Hana. That's her name._

"Thanks." I thanked her and looked back to Miya and the woman. She had a hand on the woman's hand that was rested on the desk. The woman, Hana, looked down looking a little embarrassed or something. I have seen that look before. I caught Miya and Naomi staring at me and whenever I stared back, they had the same look. _What's going on here?_

"Yo Haru." I said while watching the girls talking.

"What is it, man?"

"What if Hana joined us? She could be a valuable asset."

"You kidding? She's the enemy! She's part of the guild who killed my sister!"

"I know. But I got a feeling that she didn't want to be a part of the guild. I got a feeling someone forced her to join."

"That doesn't matter! She still was part of the guild. What if she's actually trying to party up with us and kill us later?"

"Well, we got four of us, and only one of her. What makes you think she'll try something?"

"But she is one of them! Laughing Coffin! I can't work with someone who was part of the group who killed Kit!"

"Well, let's see if she'll go along. Remember, she killed that guy from Laughing Coffin. Maybe she was just forced into the group."

"But... but."

"But nothing. My decision is final." I said. I made my way to the oak door that led into the room and grabbed the knob. Miya and Hana looked back at me as I twisted the knob pretty loudly.

"Hello." I said meekly. Hana didn't say anything. Miya just stood up and left the room. As she passed, she nodded and winked. _Okay..._ I thought as I grabbed a chair and sat down. Hana just stared down at the floor.

"Hello," I introduced myself, "I am Shi. I'm from the Knights of the Blood Oath. Can you tell me your name?"

She didn't say anything. She just ignored me. _This is gonna be harder than I thought._

"Are you hungry? I can get you something to eat." I opened my menu and started typing a message to Naomi for her to order something.

"No," said Hana. I stopped typing.

"No?"

"No, I'm not hungry." _At least she's talking._

"Okay. Do you need anything?" I asked. She shook her head no. She went back to examining her hand.

"I've noticed that you keep staring at your hands. Can you tell me why?" I asked.

"I... I don't know. Is it because I killed someone? Is it because I am free from Laughing Coffin?"

"I take it you don't like those bastards?" I asked.

She nodded, still staring at her hand. "They murdered my friend and forced me to join. They said that I was spared and that I should be grateful for that. Then they forced me to act as a spy in settlements and safe zones since I still have a green cursor."

I looked towards the window, which wasn't visible on the other side. From here, it just looks like another stone wall in another stone room. I looked back at Hana.

"You don't like LC. Huh. Well, I have an interesting proposition for you." I said.

Hana stayed silent. She just stared at me.

"The Knights have a small group in their ranks whose primary target is to track down all Laughing Coffin members and bring them back. Dead or alive. You are a valuable asset that we could use for the team. Do you want in?"

Hana still just stared at me in silence.

"I'll give you time to think about it." I said as I stood up and made my way to the door. She still stayed silent. That was bothering me.

As I walked out, I was greeted by an angry Haru. "Why the hell would you do that?" Haru asked pretty loudly.

"She's an intel gold mine. She probably knows where these fuckheads are." I tried to explain.

"I refuse to work with someone who had killed my sister!" Haru said aggressively.

"We're after that Johnny Black guy, not her. She's innocent." I defended my case.

"Everyone in that fucking guild is guilty of her murder." He took a step towards me.

"She was not there. I know it."

"It doesn't matter if she was not there!"

"Guys, guys!" Naomi got in between us and broke us up. "Stop fighting! That's what they want and the last thing we want."

I glared at Haru as he glared at me. Kid's angry as fuck. Thank god Naomi stopped this before it blew up.

"Miya, take Haru and calm him down, will ya? I'll talk to Shi." Naomi commanded. Miya grabbed Haru's arm and dragged him away. He shot me a dirty look before leaving the room.

"Christ, that kid doesn't get it." I muttered. _How can he not understand that she is an asset? This is ridiculous._

"It'll be fine," Naomi said, "Let's just go for a walk."

 **Five minutes later, the city park**

The park was nice. Cobblestone paths crisscrossed at multiple points. Colorful lilies decorated the freshly cut grass. A few trees offered some shade from the sun. The sound of a busy town was quieted as I walked alongside Naomi.

"Sounds like he's still a little bitter about his sister dying." Naomi muttered as she leaned in a little closer. A little too close, but I didn't care. All I cared about was Haru and why he couldn't just go along with it.

"A little? The kid seemed like he wanted to bite my head off."

"Well, that's Haru for you."

We walked for a couple minutes later before finding a good bench under a huge tree. People milled around the peaceful place. I saw a couple having a picnic at the crest of a nearby hill. _Must be nice,_ I thought, _Must be nice to just sit back and relax. Just don't give a damn here in this place. Must be nice to just have your significant other and not worry about anything else._

We sat down onto the wooden birch bench, resting my left arm onto the armrest on the side. Naomi sat down next to me.

"I wonder how he was back in the real world." Naomi shifted a little closer to me.

"He told me that his papa was in the JSDF. He used to fly helicopters for a living."

"I wish I was in the military."

"Trust me, you don't." I said.

"Relax. It's only gonna be for the JSDF anyways. No one there sees action. I wanted to join, but I got caught up here."

"Yeah, time isn't really our friend. We'd could end dead in a matter of days, months, or even years."

"But, our bodies were taken to hospitals to be cared for. Somewhere where it's safe."

"Yeah, but how will we come back? Back into the world? Back into society?" I asked. There was a long silence following that.

Naomi rested her head on my shoulder. I put an arm around hers as I comforted the Amazonian warrior next to me. Hell, even soldiers had soft sides. But, really. How will we come back?

"I had a friend," I explained, "who had a good friend of his taken away from him. I had another friend who lost his legs from an explosion. Only one of them made it out of Afghanistan, but none of them made it into society. Do you know where they ended up?"

"N-no. I don't know."

"Arlington. Six feet underground with a stone and a bouquet of flowers marking where they lay. Will we end up like them?" I asked.

Naomi sat up straight and looked at me. I looked at her. When our eyes met, it seemed like everything had gone silent to hear what we had to say.

"Promise me we don't end up like them. That we don't end up six feet underground." Naomi placed a hand on my chest, around the area where my ones and zeroes of a heart was beating. Time froze as we gazed into each other's eyes. I just felt so at peace. _How can I make sure that we don't end up like them?_

"Shi," Naomi spoke, "you're a soldier. You led brave men before. You lead us brave men and women now. Here in this game. Please, get us out of here, will ya?" Naomi leaned in to hug me. I just sat there dumbfounded. I was still trying to think about how I was gonna help everyone get out of this godforsaken game.

 _Dear Lord, help me lead these guys outta here. You are the way and I will follow you. I'm a Ranger._

Rangers lead the way.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! Sorry for the delay. School and some other things got in the way. I try to post weekly, but I got caught up with stuff. Anyways, we could see possibly a new character to the party, but it seems like Haru is gonna have a hard time with Hana. Will our sergeant help prevent drama in the group? Stay tuned for more. Thanks, the Sanman.**

* * *

 **10/3: I just noticed that I put chapter eight instead chapter nine. Oopsie daisy!**


	10. Mountains

_**Mountains**_

 **November 16, 2023: 41st floor**

This was not a good idea. I'm serious man, this was not a good idea. I should have never done this. God, I'm an idiot. I should have never accepted this quest. It was all to just to prevent a shit ton of fuckups of fighting.

"Run!" I yell as the ground below me erupted and threw me up high like a volleyball being set. My arms flailed about as I tried to steady my fall. Someone might say that I was flying. But as the great Buzz Lightyear had put it, "I'm not flying, I'm falling with style!" It was at that time, I knew... I fucked up.

 **Earlier that day, ten kilometers north from the city of Zhipol**

I knew that Haru and Hana will get off at a bad start. He pretty much told me at the start. I could also see it ever since Hana joined our party. The two kept stepping on each other's toes every time we go monster hunting or going on a quest with the rest of the KoB. Naomi and Miya are still at each others' necks, but at least they can work together. But them? Hell, it's sorta getting on my nerves. Watching them, it was a whole fuck-fest of screw up after screw up. This was the last straw.

"What the hell? Stop getting my kills!" Haru exclaims loudly as polygons of light rose into the swirling air around us. In front of him stood Hana, her blade drawn. Her dark hood stood out against the snowy landscape. I stood to the side with Naomi and Miya watching these two players argue about their kills. God, this has been going on ever since I recruited Hana a few months ago. It's really fucking annoying.

"That was _my_ kill." she muttered back, her voice barely audible in the whistling of the harsh breeze.

"No, it was my kill!"

"Haru! Shut the fuck up before I drop your ass!" I exclaim back, angry at the two bickering like an old married couple. He glared at me, his eyes aflame. I put on a stern look on my face. "Haru, you better watch yourself."

"Whatever." Haru turned around and trudged off into the blizzard, leaving the turncoat standing in the cold. _What a gentleman._ I sheathed the weapon that I was holding, a hatchet that had a huge hole in the middle to lighten the ax even more. I got that weapon from Hana, who used it to kill that guy and save me.

I heaved a big long sigh as I watched his figure slowly disappear. My breath formed a small cloud in the cold, bitter air on the 41st floor of Aincrad. As you could tell, the 41st floor was one of those winters biomes. Each floor has a unique biome. Some, like the second floor, are deserts. Some, like many other floors, are hilly grasslands. And some, unfortunately, are winter wonderlands. Hell, I can't even see the sun from all the snow coming down.

This place reminds me of Russia. Its cities are Russian names and there's snow everywhere. And the snow! It was literally coming down in sheets. It's like they came down all at once. Fuck, it was really cold. I could hear the girls' teeth chattering as they tried to produce body heat.

"Wh-wh-wow! I've n-never s-s-seen you so w-worked up a-about that!" I could hear Miya struggling to say as the bitter cold stung our skin. _Miya and Naomi are lucky. They got armor to protect them from the snow pelting us._

The cold really never bothered me anyway. See what I did there? But, really, I wasn't really affected by it. When I was in Ranger school, we had to do this mountain exercise. I remembered hiking for twenty days, hungry and tired, for the mountain phase of Ranger School. That shit was hell. I've done it in the winter too! It was snowing on that Georgian mountain. Thank God the next phase went to sunny Florida after that.

"What should we do about Haru?" asked Naomi. She seemed to be faring better in the cold. That was good, I guess. Deep down, I wanted to just try to comfort her in this freezing hell. You know what I mean?

"Ah, just leave him. He's gonna go back to Zhipol." I said. No one said anything after that.

 **Later, Zhipol**

The gates of Zhipol were pretty impressive from the other cities. This one actually had one of those medieval walls with freaking red brick, green tipped towers along the wall. Again, much like Russia.

We entered the gates of the large city and made our way to the inn that we stayed at last night. Yesterday, we had just unlocked this floor in one of the most easiest boss battles that we've seen. Seriously, a knife could take down that boss. It was hilariously underpowered that we were over prepared.

After five minutes of walking in silence, we finally found the inn that we stayed at last night. I opened the door and gestured for the girls to go in. "Wait for a sec, I'll be right back." I called to the girls who were already inside.

"Alright! See ya later!" Naomi called back. I shut the door quietly and turned around. I drew a cold breath as I tried to remember where the quest board was.

Every city has a quest board for people who want to maybe level up or get more money and resources. It was a goldmine if you kept going for the easy quests. But I decided that I was going to accept one of the hardest quests on the board. It was suicidal, but I've had enough of it. I've had enough of the fighting between Haru and Hana.

Upon looking at the board, I already found one that seemed hard as hell. There was a paper in the middle that said "Help wanted! Climb Zunkov Mountain and slay the legendary Mountain Monster! Reward: 500,000 Cor."

"What are you looking at?" asked a voice behind me. I grabbed the paper and ripped it off of the board. I shoved the piece of paper into my back pocket as I turned around. there stood Haru in the snow.

"You know, I don't really like fighting in my team. That's why I'm accepting a quest and I'm taking you and Hana with me."

Haru's jaw dropped as I said that. To be honest, he looked like he was stuck in the ice because he didn't move a muscle for a minute or two.

"The quest is to kill this sort of monster at the top of Zunkov Mountain. And we're going to work together to kill this fucker."

 **One hour later, North Gates of Zhipol**

"Do we have to do this?" whined Haru in a childish way, the wind trying so hard to make his voice unheard. God, he has been complaining for the entire time. For fuck's sakes, I'm starting to regret doing this.

"Yes! Now quit your bitching and get your shit together!" I scolded him like a father to a son. At least Hana is not complaining. But, to be honest, she doesn't talk much anyways. She's easier to handle than this numb-nut. Speaking of which, Hana was standing next to me, not saying anything.

Around us, the snow swirled as the wind blew it's cold fucking breeze. We could barely see the hills in the distance. Behind us, the great walls protecting Zhipol loomed over us as if they were those Titans from that anime Ryan watches all the time.

Haru walked past us, bumping shoulders with Hana. Hana just watch him trudge off into the snow, her face unchanging as always. You know, I've never seen her smile, frown, or do anything with her face. She just was... expressionless. Like a robot. The only time I've seen her do something was when she talked to Miya. To everyone else, she's just... an android.

"Listen, that dude lost his sister a while back to LC. Been sorta bitter ever since." I turned to face Hana. She stayed silent. She just turned her head to look at me, her face frozen like this fucking place. Seriously, it's that cold!

"Sergeant Hashimoto!" a voice yelled from behind me. I turned around, trying to face whoever said that. There stood Asuna with Miya and Naomi walking behind her.

"What's up, Asuna?" I casually asked. Asuna didn't look happy. _The fuck did I do?_

"Do you want to explain why you accepted the hardest quest on the board?" she yelled. Naomi and Miya both just watched from a distance.

"How about you try and figure out why?" I answered the question with another question.

"That decision was reckless and dangerous!" yelled Asuna. Yep, she was pissed.

"Why the hell do you care?" I asked. Naomi and Miya looked a little shocked.

"Don't say that!" exclaimed Miya, her mouth agape.

"I care because you are under my command and it's your and their lives in danger!"

"If these two keep fighting, then we're in constant danger! Unit cohesion and all!"

"You can get someone killed in the process!"

"I already got someone killed because they kept fighting me! I'm not gonna let that happen again!"

"This will not solve anything!" Asuna argued.

"My best friend died in Afghanistan because of a little fight between us!"

As I said that, my mind brought me back to Marjah. Back to that intersection on 41st and Kaddah.

"She's dead! Leave her! We gotta go man! We gotta go!" I yelled as I fire a quick burst from my rifle. I didn't bother aiming because there was a lot of enemies there that there was no need to. My squad and I were at a street corner in Marjah. After breaching one building to get to the hostage only to find that he was killed, I gave the order to move out.

"No! I won't leave her! I can't leave her!" Ryan said as he kneeled over Taylor's lifeless husk of a body. Around us, AK fire hit the ground, shooting dirt up. I don't know how we didn't get hit. It was a miracle we got outta that.

I pushed the stubborn soldier away from the danger and bent down to yank the chain of tags that hung around her neck. _I'm sorry, Tay._ I told her silently. As much as it hurt me to leave her body on that street corner, I had to. Her corpse stayed there until after the battle.

Both Ryan and I ran away from that ambush. As we turned the corner where the rest of our squad was waiting, Ryan wheeled around and sucker punched me. I fell down hard.

"It's your fault!" he shouted angrily. Her death was somehow my fault. I told her to take point, but she ended up getting shot by a sniper down the street. That decision got her killed.

 _It's your fault. It's your fault._ His words, his painful words cut deep into my soul. It was my fault.

"Shi! Shi! Hello? Shi!" a familiar voice pulled me back to reality. Suddenly, I found myself back in SAO, in front of the gates of Zhipol on the 41st floor. The blowing dust of Marjah was replaced with the blowing snow of floor forty one.

"Huh?" I shook off that memory. I looked around. Miya was now standing in front of me, a worried look staining her young face. Again, her eyes glittered in the snow. They glittered in a sort of... mesmerizing way.

"You were zoning out." Miya placed a hand on my shoulder. "Shi, are you really okay? This is the second time I've seen you do this."

"Yeah. Of course I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're as pale as the snow." Naomi commented.

I grimaced. I know that it hurts, but I can't tell them that it hurts. That I've got them killed. I just can't. How can I? They looked up to me. How can I just say that I'm scared for them because of what happened. How? God, it hurts to just hold on to this.

"It's just the cold!" I said. _It was your fault. Just own up to it._

Miya was just staring at me for a while. I looked at Naomi and she knew I was lying. Her face creased as worry stained the woman's face. I looked back at Miya.

"I swear I'm okay," I lied "I'm good."

"O-okay." Miya stammered.

"Okay." I turned to face Hana. "Let's go?" I asked. She nodded and we started walking to Zunkov Mountain, leaving the girls behind.

We ended up finding Haru's ass just ahead on the path. We could barely see a thing, though. The storm has picked up.

"Haru!" I called out to the person ahead. That person turned around and walked towards us. That person was indeed Haru, his face covered in snow.

"What?" asked Haru. So he doesn't see this huge ass snowstorm that has picked up?

"Storm's picked up! Let's just find a good place to hunker down!" I suggested. A piece of snow somehow got lodged up into my nose. "Achoo!" I sneezed the snow out of my nose. I ended up getting blasted in the face with my own spit from the wind.

"Yeah! Let's go!" We soon made our way off the path. Hana tripped and fell from the wind and a rock.

"Get her up!" I commanded Haru. Haru just hesitated and stared at me. "I said get her up, damn it!" I yelled. He bent down slowly and picked the woman off the ground. Again, another piece of snow hit me in the face.

I raised my arms up, using my hands to shield my face from the loads of snow coming down onto us. I said that the cold never bothered me, but the snow does. And God, it's bothering me a hella lot.

 **Five minutes later**

Haru and Hana both collapse beside me. _At least we're out of the storm._ We found ourselves a cave in almost no time. It was pretty big to be honest. It was suspiciously big. Like a wolf den. The only light was coming from the sun that was being blotted out by the snowstorm above.

I looked down to my companions in pity. They barely moved. I didn't find that worrying to be honest. If anything, they could be just faking it. I mean, these bodies aren't totally ours, right? Speaking of, I wonder if anyone visited me in the hospital. Any squadmates? Did my parent's visit? It'll be nice to know if anyone did visit me.

"You guys okay?" I asked the weary travellers even though we were on the road for just thirty minutes. _God, this'll be a long day._

"Get me up, please?" asked Haru. He was still laying face down. Like I said, pity. That's when I realized I was supposed to be babysitting these two for the entire quest. Oh pity me!

"Alright!" I groaned as I tried to lift the poor kid. When I did, my knees buckled. "Holy shit, you're fat! How much do you weigh?" I asked.

"Only 170!" exclaimed the Japanese kid. _So how is it hard to get up?_

Hana, who was sitting up right beside Haru, had her eyes wide open. "You okay?" I asked the girl, whose face turned more white every passing second.

"S-shi?" she stammered.

"What?"

"On your back." Hana pointed at my back. I looked behind me. There, a wolf bared its teeth as it got ready to eat my friends and I.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit." I whispered under my breath as the wolf took a slow step forward. Above, a red cursor indicated that it was an enemy monster. It was a little darker than the other cursors I saw. That meant that this was a stronger monster. I took out the hatchet and twirled it around my hand.

The wolf lunged, it's teeth finding my left arm. The wolf was shaking its head as it tried to tear off my arm. "Ah!" I screamed as the wolf was now on top of me. I dropped the hatchet in my hands, the ax clattering down onto the stone floor of the cave.

I reached down to my boot with my right hand and grabbed what I was looking for. My fingers grasped the hilt of the emergency dagger I had in my boot. I gripped the dagger and got ready to stab the wolf. Using my left arm to get the wolf into position, I drove the blade into it's neck.

The sight of the bright red cartoon blood and the white polygons brightened the damp and dark cave momentarily. Finally, the fucker was killed. I slowly sat up and examined my arm. There were red marks where the fangs of the wolf dug into my skin. I look back at my companions. They both watched me in shock.

"Okay! Let's go!" I called out. The storm outside stopped blasting its wind and the snow stopped falling from the sky. That wolf, though, was the first of many troubles we would encounter.

Holy shit, this is gonna be a long fucking day.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! This chapter is shorter than usual because I want to split this quest into two different chapters. Having it all in the same chapter would make it too long.**


	11. Climbing

_**Climbing**_

"Are you okay, Shi?" asked Haru after I picked up my hatchet and placed it back onto my belt. I examined my hand, which was covered in red marks. The fangs of the wolf tore into my skin earlier. Good thing I couldn't feel it because it would hurt like hell when it tried to tear off my arm.

"Yeah, I think I'm alright." I said as I drew a deep but shaky breath. My heart was still racing from that sudden burst of adrenaline. Blood raced in my ears as my fist-sized organ pumped as hard as it can.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I returned the blade to my boot. "Like I said, shall we go?"

And just like that, we were off.

The road we walked on practically disappeared from sight. I couldn't see where we were supposed to go because the snow has piled on top of the brown dirt path. Everywhere, snow had covered everything, even the trees were painted white from it. I just had to use other means of finding how we were supposed to get to Zunkov Mountain. And that meant that I had to lead Haru and Hana, who followed me.

Speaking of, they were awfully quiet. It was so quiet that the silence was absolute torture. Jeez, can these two just lighten up? When I walked patrol back in 'Stan, I always talked with my buddies to make sure they were alive and weren't killed. It helped a lot. One time, one fucker somehow managed to quietly snag the dude in the back of our patrol. If I wasn't talking to him, we wouldn't have noticed he was gone until we were out of the village. We laughed our asses off after that.

Anyways, the only way I know that we're going towards the mountain range where Zunkov was was by other means of navigation. I used the sun and a compass that I attached to my uniform. We were supposed to go northeast, where the Kovsk mountain range was supposed to be.

The sun was now visible among the occasional cloud. That storm somehow passed really fast. Thank God because I can't tell if there is still snow in my nose due to it being so cold it became numb. I am not really bothered by the cold, but it's still a bitch.

"Hey, you guys hungry?" I broke the silence. I wasn't really hungry myself, but they might.

"No, I ain't hungry." Haru muttered. I looked towards Hana, who was just walking without showing any emotion. Seriously, she's just a stone statue like that.

"What about you?" I asked the woman. She just simply shook her head no. I just faced forward and continued walking. My God, this silence was killing me. _Am I really gonna resort to this? Fuck it, this silence will drive me insane if I didn't do it. I haven't heard music in a year anyways._

I was debating whether I should do this or not. Do it? Or no? Yes? No? Maybe so? Man, I really need a coin to make this decision. I really don't want those two to think I'm a bit of a kook. You know what? Fine, I'll do it. Heads, I do it. Tails, I don't.

"Yo Haru. Heads or tails?" I asked.

"Heads." he replied. So I'll do it then. Here goes nothing.

"Almost heaven. West Virginia." I sang. Wow, I really need to listen to some of the new stuff.

"You know, you really are an old soul, ya know that?" Haru jabbed. I smirked. Least he's talking.

"Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River." I continued, "Life is old there, older than the trees. Younger than the mountains, blowing like the breeze."

"Country roads," Haru started to sing along, "take me home, to the place I belong. West Virginia, mountain momma. Take me home, country roads."

"Atta boy." I grinned as I look back at him. He just smirked at me. I looked at Hana, who was expressionless as ever. She just looked at me. I smiled, but her face didn't change. I looked ahead.

I saw the mountains jutting out of the horizon now. I could see probably five or six mountain peaks from where I am. The mountains were supposed to be arranged in a ring, with Zunkov Mountain in the middle. That's where that monster was. We had to climb over one of the mountains to get to Zunkov. Years of hiking in Ranger School and in Afghanistan will finally pay off.

 **One hour later**

We made it to the mountain range in about an hour. By now, I'm used to the cold. I take a deep breath and expelled it out afterward, a white puff of vapor leaving my mouth as if I was vaping. I remembered when Ryan snuck his Juul to Afghanistan. He ended up getting it destroyed when a bullet somehow hit the damn thing out of his mouth without hurting him in one of our firefights. I laughed throughout the fight because Ryan was sad because of losing that.

Ahead of us, the snow-capped mountains stood in our way. We couldn't go around the mountains, so we gotta go through it. There was a dirt path that I could see that led through the mountain. The mountain phase of Ranger School will finally be put into use.

"Here we are! Kovsk Mountain Range!" I exclaimed as we started climbing up the steep mountain face. I took big step after big step as I tried to climb over the rocks. We all hiked in silence. All around us, snow swirled up. We were making our way when suddenly, we came across this chasm that had split the path ahead. We had to cross it, but there was no path to walk across.

"Ah shit." I mumbled as I looked over the chasm. It was so deep that I couldn't see the bottom. A fall from this height is most likely fatal. I looked across. The other side was far enough for me to jump to and not fall, but I don't want to take that risk. Besides, I don't think that Haru and Hana can make that jump.

Haru leaned over the edge and spit into it. Seriously, what the actual fuck?

"Uh, how are we gonna get across?" asked Haru. _Yeah, how?_ I looked towards Hana, who was still uninterested in the canyon ahead of us.

"I dunno." I replied to Haru's question. "Hana, can you make this jump?" I asked.

"Maybe." she responded. _Maybe ain't gonna cut it._ I don't want anyone to fall. I looked back at the chasm. Around us, the mountains loomed over us as if they were gods from Olympus. There was nothing around us that we can use. We don't have any rope or anything, so swinging across is out.

"What about you, Haru?" I asked.

"Yeah, I can."

I quickly made a decision. Haru goes first, then Hana, then me. I'll make sure no one falls.

"Go." I said to Haru, who nodded in affirmation. He ran to the edge and jumped. Who knew a couple seconds can turn into a couple hours? I held my breath the entire time he jumped. But, he made it across unharmed.

"Your turn." I told Hana. I watched her run to the edge and jump. It was a bad jump.

"Haru!" I called out. Haru looked back and saw Hana falling. He dove down and reached towards Hana. I looked over the edge myself. There, I saw Hana holding onto Haru's outstretched arm. She was merely dangling my her arm.

"Holy moly!" I cried out as I saw her dangling. "Pull her up!"

Haru grunted as he pulled the former LC player up. Hana collapsed next to Haru, breathing heavily. _That was close as fuck._

It was now my turn to jump. I stepped back a couple steps and ran forwards. My foot hit the edge, giving me that final boost to jump across the chasm.

"Woohoo!" I yelled as I flew across the gap. When my feet hit the ground on the other side, I rolled to mitigate the fall damage. I safely made it to the other side without a problem.

You may say I wasn't scared when I jumped the gap, but I was. I was scared of falling. I don't know why, but I had a small fear of heights. That was odd, considering that I was a Ranger. I guess it came from Afghanistan. Whenever we had to hop over a small irrigation ditch or stream, I always end up falling into it. It gave us something to laugh about on patrol.

"You okay?" I asked Hana, who had a sort of wild look on her face. She was probably a little scared from that. Good thing she didn't fall.

"Yes, I'm okay." said Hana as quietly as ever.

"What about you, Haru?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

I looked to the path ahead. It wanted us to go up some more before cresting over the mountain. We still have a ways to go.

"Alright, everyone! Let's go kill that son of a bitch up on Zunkov!" I exclaimed as I started off on the trail again. Haru and Hana trailed behind me.

 **Thirty minutes later**

Holy moly, that was tiring. Climbing up one mountain is enough for one day. But we gotta climb this mountain, get back down, climb another mountain, get back down, and make our way back to fucking Zhipol.

The three of us stood at the base of Zunkov, which towered over the other mountains. It's probably gonna be as tall as Everest. Damnit, why did I chose this fucking quest?

"Alright, here we go." I murmured.

"Yeah, this is it." Haru added.

Finally, the end of the fucking quest is in sight. God, it felt like a long mission when I was back in Afghanistan. We started to climb. Around us, trees loomed over us as we continued our descent.

Dark clouds started rolling in, so we had to hurry. I sped up, wanting to finish this quest and go home. The cold was finally getting to me. I looked behind me. Hana took one big step to get over a rock that was jutting out of the mountain. Haru tripped on another rock, but he kept walking.

"C'mon! Storm's coming! We better go!" I commanded. We then climbed farther.

Five minutes of trudging in the snow brought us to a halt as I heard a voice ahead of us.

"Well well well. Look who we have here." growled a man's voice ahead on the path. The storm has been picking up now, limiting the visibility. All I saw was snow and clouds. I could only see probably twenty-five yards in front of me. We were probably high enough to touch the clouds. Not that kind of high, the one I know you're probably thinking of. I meant high as in altitude wise.

"Who the fuck are you?" I asked into the wind. I don't know if the guy heard me, for the wind whistled in my ears as loud as a trill of guns in the distance. He did. But he did not respond. I stopped walking and drew my blade. My companions did the same.

"Who do you think?" I heard another voice, this time a woman's, ask. _Are we dealing with enemies here? Or is this part of the quest?_

Suddenly, a group of six people wearing blue, white, and silver armor came into view. That looks really familiar. All of them except one was wearing helmets with a visor covering their faces. The one who wasn't wearing the visor was a woman with long brown hair. Shit, I don't remember her name. She looked really familiar. Then I remembered them.

It was the Divine Dragon Alliance. They were a guild who were part of the clearing team in SAO. I had worked with them a lot. Sometimes, I would go on a mission to help these guys out. They were good in battle, but they did anything to spread their power by stealing from others. We looked down upon their actions, but they were a vital part of the fight of our lives. It seems like these guys are in a stealing mood.

"Hey, DDA! Long time no see!" I exclaimed. Do these guys want to steal something on us? We don't really have anything of value on us right now, so I don't know if they want to steal something.

The woman stepped forward and took out her sword that was sheathed on her hip. Is she gonna use it?

"Are you here for the kill quest?" asked the lady holding the sword.

"Yeah. Why?" I asked cautiously. I gripped my hatchet tighter.

"How about we make a game out of this? That'll be fun!" she exclaimed. _A game? The fuck? What is she thinking?_

"What's the game?"

"The first one to the top gets to fight the monster and get the reward. The person who gets the last hit prize keeps it."

A game to get to the top first. What happens if we are in danger?

"What if one group needs help?"

"Well, help them out, of course! We don't want anyone to die, right?"

I know these guys would be able to help us. They are assholes, but they don't kill. At least, not that I know of. Reminds me of my officers back in 'Stan. I had a feeling they would frag the occasional dickhead every now and then if they're not helping.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan!" I agreed to the terms.

I always did stupid shit like this when I was in the Army. Playing games and pranks on each other. Ryan and I would just fuck around on base and ending up getting chewed out by our superiors. I remembered when I snuck a whoopie cushion under Taylor as she was sitting down with Ryan filming from under the table. I ended up with a big mark on my face, but it was worth it. Ah, good times. Wow, that statement made me sound old.

 **Thirty minutes later**

"Run!" I screamed as my body was thrown up like a rag doll being tossed around. I flailed my arms in an attempt to control my fall to no avail. Below, I saw a huge black dragon flapping its wings as it tried to steady itself after throwing itself onto the ground, making all of us fly into the sky.

That monster that was supposed to be at the top of Zunkov was indeed a dragon. In the upper part of my peripheral view, a green bar showed me how much health this dragon has. Mother fucker has a full green bar. Its crystal was a really dark red. That meant it was powerful enough to kill us dead. This was the legendary monster, Gavir the Black Wing.

I could see Haru and Hana get thrown up to the other side. I was separated from them. Below, I could see the DDA advancing to the dragon. Speaking of, the storm just died down, allowing me to see everything.

I screamed from the top of my lungs. I screamed and screamed until I hit something soft.

Boom! A plume of white smoke rose from where I landed. My health bar was now in the red. One hit could kill me. I was so close to dying.

"Ugh." I groaned as I opened my eyes. If I survived a fall like that, I must've fallen on something soft. Did I fall on something soft?

That thought reminded me about something that happened in Afghanistan. For one of the missions, my squad had to ride a Little Bird helicopter. One of the rookies was supposed to sit on the skid because there wasn't enough room. He fell out somehow. The doctors told us that he only lived because he had fallen on soft sand. I was probably as lucky as that kid back in Afghanistan.

I did land on some soft snow. Granted, I did take a huge amount of damage, but at least I lived. Luckily, I had some extra potions from when the girls bought the entire store before rescuing our guys a while back.

Around me was just white snow with some grey rocks jutting out of the winter wonderland. I reached to the pocket inside of my coat and grasped the two bottles I had in there. Popping the caps of both of them, I chugged the potions like how Asuna chugged my wine when she recruited me.

My health bar rose to about three quarters, turning green. _Good. Now I gotta find the others._

Haru and Hana must've been together right now. They're either working together or fighting. If they are working together, they must be getting along. I was right about one thing.

"Oh shit! Those two!" I exclaimed to no one in particular as I forced my body to stand up. _Crap! How are they?_

I looked at the sets of health bars below mine. Naomi and Miya still have full health. Haru's was in the orange, whereas Hana's health bar was red. My heart skipped a beat before I realized it was steadily going up. Haru's bar was doing the same thing. I took a deep breath and calmed myself as I stretched my back and arms, hearing the joints crack.

I looked towards the peak of the mountain, the sun's rays being stopped by the triangular top up above. There was a fight going on there now. The DDA has reached the dragon and is fighting it at this very moment. I know that we have most likely lost the wager, but we should try to help them fight it.

 _Should I get back up there?_

Man, this reminds me of when I was in Ranger School. When I was still a Ranger in training, I was with Ryan at the time. We both enlisted together when I was living in New Orleans back in the States.

"Hey, you alright?" Ryan asked me as I leaned against a rock. I had twisted my ankle a little while back and was limping the rest of the way. Man, I hated that phase of the School. They make you climb a fucking mountain for twenty days.

"Yeah. I'm a'ight." I replied. I looked down the Georgian mountain. God, that's a long way down.

"Man, I hate this." I mumbled.

"Eh, well, it'll be over in a bit. Just hang in there."

"Just soldier on."

"At least I'm not back at home. This was my only escape."

"Yeah, you're father sure is an asshole."

"Yeah." Ryan patted my uniformed shoulder as I smirked at him. Come to think of it, Ryan looks a lot like Haru. Jeez, they could be brothers for all I know.

"Well," I said after a moment of silence, "I guess I'll see you up there."

 _I guess I'll see you up there._ I'm sure he's watching down at me from heaven right now. I'll probably meet him up there if I don't make it outta this fucking game alive. Oh God, if I am gonna die here, make sure everyone else gets out, will ya?

 **Five minutes later**

I finally made it up to the peak of the mountain. Those five minutes felt like five hours. My legs are literally trying to kill themselves. I've been running uphill at an almost 90-degree slope. The cold is not helping my situation. Hell. I feel like hell. And now I'm running into some more hell.

"Holy shit!" I gasped for air as I looked at what's going on in front of me. There, the DDA has been fighting the fucker named Gavir the Black Wing. Its huge form and wings loomed over me and the DDA. Its wings were extended, forming a huge ass shadow over us. Its purple eyes glared at us. It seemed to be looking at me. That fucker looked like that Ender Dragon thing from Minecraft.

The DDA looked like they've been through hell. Four of the six are wounded, their health bars in the red. The remaining two were covering the wounded who were trying to crawl away from the fray. They need help, and they need help now. No time to rest. I saw this dragon opening its mouth and aiming at the combatants. I have to help them.

"Watch out! It's a breath attack!" I yelled as I ran to the wounded. My legs flared up, but I kept going. Going and going, I had to save them. I took out my hatchet and ran straight at the bastard. I ran past the DDA, straight down the middle. Straight to the chest of the dragon.

"Rah!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I leaped up with my hatchet above my head. The dragon, on the other hand, started aiming at me with a ball of green energy forming in its mouth. _Holy shit, this thing might hit me before I hit him! I'm still recovering as well! Shit!_ My blade felt like it was moving in slow motion as the dragon got more than enough time to get ready to fire. _Come on, come on, come on!_

I hit it right where I wanted it to be.

Boom! An explosion of power threw me back a bit. I did hit it. The energy ball in its mouth probably exploded from the hit. That should be useful information.

I landed on my two feet when I got down. Without hesitating, I turned around and ran to the wounded.

"Cover me! I'll get them outta here!" I commanded the two still standing. One of them was that woman. The other was a dude with his mask on. They looked at me and gave me an affirmative nod, then getting their attention back onto the dragon.

I knelt down to the closest man who was lying face down into the snow. I got him into a fireman's carry in a jiffy and ran away with the guy.

I remembered when I had to do that in basic training a while back. I had to carry Ryan through a couple miles of forest with both our gear on our backs and our armor on our chests. And then I had to be carried in the same fashion. He ended up dropping me at one point. Good times.

"You okay, man?" I asked the dude as I rested him against a rock facing away from the action.

"Just... Get my buddies out, will ya?" he groaned weakly.

 _Get my buddies out, will ya?_ That was another friend's last words when we were in Afghanistan. Damn, this game brings back too many memories.

"Yeah. Will do." I reached into my coat and pulled out a healing potion that was half full. I tossed it to him and then ran back to the rest. Man, I felt like that medic on Okinawa. That dude saved 75 men without a gun.

Without assessing the danger, I ran right to the closest man. He lay on his back, his arms and legs outstretched.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked the guy, who quickly nodded yes. His health bar said otherwise.

"Look out!" someone yelled. I look to the dragon, who seemed to get ready to strike on one area. It flew straight up and then hovered as if to get ready. I only had enough time to do one thing.

I grabbed the guy's hands and dragged him out of the way. I had a few strides before looking back to see the dragon impact the ground.

"Shit, that was close!" I harshly whispered underneath my breath. I kept dragging the guy until I got to his friend. I put him down next to him and tossed him a potion. Then, I ran back into the fight again. I did the same thing with the third guy, doing a fireman's carry and bringing him to cover. Then, there was the last guy.

"Help!" the guy cried out. He crawled backward and watched the dragon wide-eyed while moving. It was only a matter of time before I found out why he cried that out. The dragon was charging up another breath attack. The ball was already big enough to fire. The guy was too far to help him by the time he would get blasted. All I could do was watch.

The dragon let the ball loose. The ball of energy flew at the speed of sound. All though it was over in a few seconds, it felt like an eternity.

A huge explosion knocked me onto my butt. My head spun and my ears rang. It was as if an RPG landed nearby. That actually happened to me before. I was knocked back by an RPG one time when I served in Afghanistan. I was lucky not to get hurt.

My vision quickly went from clear to blurry and back to clear. When I looked to see what happened, to my surprise, that guy was still there. He was not dead. He was still crawling away. I saw someone else standing in front of him, casting a shadow over the wounded man. When I took a closer look, I saw Haru standing there. He was alive!

I stood up and hobbled to the downed comrade. I hurried over to him and picked him up in a fireman's carry and brought him to his friends. When I returned, I couldn't believe my eyes.

Haru flew right at the dragon, which was preoccupied with Hana and the two DDA members behind it. To be honest, they fought so fast that I don't remember the details. They fought that dragon so fast that I can't explain to you what happened. All I could tell you is that Hana and Haru worked together. The next thing I knew, I saw Haru and Hana standing shoulder to shoulder.

I've never seen them work together. It felt like a miracle. It was like divine intervention.

Now, I'll never see them get along, but at least their little fights will maybe stay outside of the real fight. Maybe.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey y'all! Sorry I posted this chapter "a little" late. I just got lazy. Also, I had some school things to work out, so I didn't really have time to write. Anyhoo, this is the end of the quest. The journey to Zunkov and the battle has been exhausting. But, this quest might have helped Haru and Hana's relationship. Keyword: might. At least Shi would probably be able to help lead his team out of the game. So, keep reading to find out what happens to his team. Again, sorry for the wait. I usually try to publish a chapter weekly. Anyways, thank you and I bid you adieu!**


	12. Drunk

_**Drunk**_

 **January 10th, 2024; Floor 51: the city of Vulci**

"Are you really okay, Shi?" asked Naomi as she sat down next to me. I turned away, hoping I wouldn't meet her gaze. I didn't want her to see me break down in front of her as I drown my sorrows in another glass of ale.

"Please. I want to know if you are okay." she asked again. I ignored her. I just didn't want to respond. I didn't know how. I had just been getting nightmares recently, bringing back very bad memories.

"I'm fine." I mumbled. I just wanted to be alone. I just didn't want anyone to see me be weak. I didn't want my teammates to see me be weak like this.

"Are you?" she pressed on.

"Yeah, I am." I mumbled a little louder.

"Shi..."

"I said I'm fine! Now leave me alone!" I pounded the table. The tavern got quiet real quick after that. I could feel the daggers of people's stares. After a few tense seconds because of my actions, the people returned to their conversations.

That was the first time I have raised my voice at a woman. I felt sick to my stomach.

Naomi backed up a little bit. She took a cautious step back, with her hands up in surrender. I continued to look away as she walked out of the tavern.

I took another sip of my drink in the city tavern. I felt the bitter liquid hit the back of my throat as I forced it down. I just wanted to be flat out drunk that night. I just wanted to forget those horrible experiences of a soldier. I just wanted to forget Ryan and Taylor and all the other people I let down in that mission a few years ago. I just wanted to let go.

A cacophony of laughter broke into my thoughts.

"I'll meet you guys later! I'll just get a couple more for the road!" exclaimed one man from the table behind me.

"Alright. See ya, chief." replied another guy as he and his friends exited the tavern. I finished the last of my glass.

"Another one, will ya?" I asked the lady NPC tending the bar.

"Make that two." I heard a voice next to me. I saw one guy sitting down onto the stool at the bar. He had red hair with a bandana with the same color on his head. His chin had little speckles of a beard. He wore some sort of samurai get up.

"What happened to you?" asked the guy as he saw my face. I guess I can't be alone here.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Your eyes are red." replied the man. _Red?_

I looked at the reflection of my face on my empty glass. Indeed, my eyes were red. Tears on my cheeks disappeared in lights. I was crying.

"Fuck." I murmured.

"Language." said the man.

"Sorry. Force of habit."

"Well, this game brings out bad habits."

"Old habits die hard." I looked back at him. He smiled.

"Name's Klein." He stretched out his hand.

"Shi." I shook his hand.

"I know. You're on the assault team. Team D, right?"

"Yeah. Squad leader." Just as I said that our drinks arrived.

"Of course you are. The soldier always leads."

I paused. How did this guy know I was a soldier? Is he part of Laughing Coffin? I know I am marked, but I didn't think they would approach me.

He probably knew that I was having a mini heart attack when he said "Yeah, I remember you from the first-floor boss. You punched 'Cactus Head' Kibaou and gave that whole 'I am a soldier and beta tester' speech. That was awesome." He laughed. I just smirked to be friendly.

"You remember that, huh?" I said, "Oh well, Rangers lead the way."

I took my mug of ale and drank half of it down in one gulp.

"Jesus, are you trying to get drunk?" asked Klein.

"Yeah. 'Cause fuck it, you know?" I took another huge gulp.

I just found out the other day from an informant named Argo that I could get drunk if I drink enough of this cat piss of a drink. This shit tastes disgusting, but I don't care. I'm just gonna let its effects take my mind and memories away from this world.

"Well, what's your damage?" I asked the red-haired man. He clearly didn't know what I meant.

"What do you mean?"

"You're talking to a man who wants to be shitfaced the next day. Why?"

"We're all brothers here. You're my brother. Your brothers are my brothers. Everyone here is brothers to me and you."

Everyone here is my brothers and sisters. Even those that I don't know, they are my brothers and sisters. Back in 'Stan, my battle buddies were my brothers. Ryan was my brother that I never had. Taylor was that perky sister that always seemed to lighten the mood.

"Amen, brother." I picked up my mug and Klein did the same. A clink was heard as we tapped each other's glasses. I finished the rest of my drink as Klein barely got it to his lips.

I ordered another drink as Klein finished his.

"Anyways, I'm gonna go meet up with some friends. Just promise one thing, will ya?" Klien said as he set down his mug.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't get too drunk that you're gonna do something stupid, alright?"

"I can't promise you anything, brother."

"Man, I hope you can get help."

Get help. That's all they ever say to me. Get help. It's fucking annoying. I don't need help. I got here just fine. I don't need help.

"Whatever man." I say as my third glass comes to my table. Just as Klein was about to stand up, he paused to ask me something.

"Oh, and that chick? The chick you were talking to earlier?"

"Yeah? What about her?"

I noticed he started to turn a little red. What the fuck is he gonna ask me?

"Is she, like, seeing someone at the moment?" he squeaked.

This boy's tryna hook up with Naomi. Okay... then. Is he one of those guys who tries to get laid but never does?

"Uh." I muttered.

"I mean, if she's going out with you, that's fine. But if not..."

This son of a bitch already fell in love with Naomi. I just love to mess him up with this by giving a vague answer.

"She probably is seeing someone. I never really know. All she does is go on boss raids with me, goes to the bar with me. We sleep in the same bed. But, she might not be seeing anyone. Who knows? Tell ya what. How 'bout you ask her yourself?"

The look on his face was funny as hell. It was hard to keep a straight face.

"I... uh..." Klein pointed to the door.

"Oh yeah, go ahead! If you want, you could try to find her and ask her!" I taunted him. It was either me or the alcohol talking at that point.

Klein stood up unsteadily and tried to walk out of the tavern. _Finally, some alone time._

 **Two hours later**

"Ugh, fuck." I said as I rested my head on the bar. I had a splitting headache. My brain felt like it was spinning and I felt like shit. I don't know how many mugs I've had. Maybe three or four? I'm not really good with alcohol.

I stumbled outside to the cobblestone streets of Vulci. Streetlamps dotted the city like the night sky above. The whole world was spinning.

 _Where was the inn?_ I walked down the streets that seemed to curve and bend every which way.

I don't know how, but I somehow got to the inn without falling flat on my face. I shuffled upstairs to my room. At least, I thought it was. Naomi was supposed to bunk with Hana tonight because she was having nightmares of her own and Haru was staying back at the base in Grandzam for some therapy about his sister, so I was supposed to have my own room.

I felt my face hit the bed and my back hit the floor. I heard a muffled voice, but I don't know who it was.

"Fuck me." I mumbled. I was really dizzy. My vision blurred and contorted. Damn, my head hurts.

I opened my eyes to see a figure crouched over me. Miya's red hair flowed over her shoulders. Her eyes still sparkled in my murky vision.

"Shi?" asked the young woman, although her voice sounded a little muffled. My hearing was jacked up, but my vision seemed to come back a little bit.

Miya started to look a little... cute. Like really cute. Ryan would say kawaii.

"Miya?" I asked.

"Shi, what happened? Are you okay?" She lifted me up and rested me on the bed. My head rested on a pillow. At least, I thought it was a pillow. Miya ruffled my hair a little.

"I am goooood." I slurred, "I jush drunk some beer an' I feel happy." God, I mumble like a moron when I'm drunk.

"Oh. He's drunk." I heard Miya say under her breath. I don't really care at this moment though. But seriously though, Miya's lookin' kinda fly.

"Heyyyyyyy... Warsh cookin', good lookin'?" At this time, I didn't know what I was doing.

"Uh, Shi? Are you good?" I felt Miya's hand stop midstroke as she looked at me with inquisitive eyes.

"Yeah! I'm 'n the pwesence of a pwetty woman! Why wouldn't I?" I asked, my speech slurring. _God, she looked, even more, prettier than usual. I just wanna touch her porcelain face._ I reached my hand up to her face to touch it, only for it to be slapped away.

"Stop it." asked Hana.

"I wanna touch your face..."

"You're drunk."

"So?"

"You're not thinking straight."

"Yeah, I am."

"No, you are not." she insisted.

"Shure I am."

She rolled her eyes in defeat. "Whatever."

I struggled to sit up, but I ended up sitting on the edge of the bed, my hand steadying my body so that I don't fall off the bed. Miya got up and went to the desk at the wall to adjust some things.

"I want to go for a walk." I tried to stand up but tripped and fell. I'm way to drunk for this. Looking back on it, it was pretty fun at the time. I didn't give a shit about anything. Miya begged to differ.

I clumsily opened the door that was in my way of getting out of the room. By the time Miya was aware of what I was doing, I was already halfway down the hallway.

"Shi!" Miya called out from the door. Me, being too drunk to pay attention, ignored her. When I got to the stairs, I heard the sound of footsteps running to meet me. I took a step forward onto the stairwell and fell down. I fell face first onto the carpeted floor. I heard Miya's footsteps going down the stairs.

"Oh look. I fell." I said as I pushed myself off the ground. I stood up straight and started walking to the exit as Miya got in the way.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You are in no shape to go out. At least, not by yourself." she scolded me. Miya placed her hands on my shoulder as we gazed into each other's eyes. _Damn, she looks pretty right now._

"Well then! You're gonna go with me!" I exclaimed.

She seemed to think about it for a bit.

"Fine. Let me just get something." Miya ran back upstairs to her room. _Finally, I can go._

I stumbled out into the street, which was deserted by now. The inn that I stayed at was near the city entrance. I could easily just go out of the city and mess around in a kill zone. My drunk ass made me go to the woods outside of the settlement.

The dirt path that I walked on bent and curved as if I was going in a circle. I could barely walk in a straight line. The trees seemed to sway, even though there was no breeze out. The stars above seemed to appear as if they were lines of light. The hills seemed like mountains.

"Shi! Wait!" I heard Miya call back to me. I just shuffled along. "Shi! Wait a freaking minute!" She ended up catching up with me. "Shi! Oh my God!"

"I'm fine. I am not hurt."

"It's dangerous to be alone out here, Shi! What were you thinking?"

"I thought no one will attack me."

"Right. He's too wasted to think." I heard her whisper under her breath.

We walked forward. We must have walked for about an hour or so before I drunkenly decided to climb a hill. That wasn't a good idea.

I fell face first onto the tree roots, jarring my head. I sort of felt that.

"Ow." I said. I didn't slur that time.

"Shi! You okay?" Miya bent down over my head. "God, this was not a good idea." I heard her loud and clear. I felt her flip me so that I lay on my back.

"Ugh, what happened?" I asked groggily. My vision was still sort of blurry, but it was clearing up. I saw Miya's face over me, watching with wary eyes. My head still swam and spun like a carnival ride. I tried to stand, but a wave of nausea forced me back down.

"You fell. That's what happened." Miya sat down next to me and lifted my head. She placed my head down onto something soft. It felt like a pillow. _What the hell?_

I tried to rub my head and felt something smooth. It felt like skin.

Skin. I swear if she's using her lap to rest my head, I'm gonna run if I could. I didn't want Naomi to see me here. To be honest, Miya has been showing more and more signs of God knows what. I still have my heart set on Naomi, not Miya.

 _Wait, I just had my first reasonable thought of the night. Is the alcohol clearing up? Also, does Miya still think I'm still drunk? Hell, I could use that to my advantage._

My head was pounding like a sledgehammer to a wall. When I said that I wasn't good with alcohol, I really meant that I'm not normal. I chug a shit ton of alcohol and I'll be drunk. Usually, it takes the average person to have a hangover. I get hangovers an hour later, giving me headaches and lots of fucking nausea. Then I keep those hangover symptoms for about another day.

But, I can still think somewhat clearly considering. I'm probably having a hangover now. I just want to hurl because of it. But at least I can think.

"Hey, Miya. I got a question." I said to the girl.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Do you love me?"

"You're drunk and you'll probably forget it in the morning."

"Still. Do you love me?" I asked.

Miya's cheeks turned red. She was blushing like a tomato now. She seemed to be thinking about a response for a second or two. She looked down in embarrassment.

"I... Yeah, I do." she finally said. Yeah, now I confirmed that she loves me. Wow, I've never had anyone like me that way. Damn. Do you get that feeling?

"Why? Why do you love a man who is fucked up in the head?" I asked. My PTSD from Afghanistan had made me do different fucking choices here. Some of them good, some of them dumb. My therapist told me to avoid as many PTSD triggers, but this whole game is like a machine gun of triggers.

"Because, deep down, I know you are determined to get us out of here, even if you yourself will end up dead. I just want to know why. Why do you care about other people enough to put your life on the line for them? And I'm not talking about me, Naomi, Haru, and Hana. I'm talking about those people you don't know. Why?"

It was my turn to answer.

"It's because I'm a soldier. It's my instinct to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It is my duty to put my life on the line to save others, even if I end up dead by daylight. I failed my friends in Afghanistan, I will not make the same mistake twice." I gave her my answer to that difficult question.

"Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Please, just don't get yourself killed in the process. Don't try to be the hero. Please. I don't want you to die." I saw tears streaming down her eyes.

"Please. I want to just get out of this game alive. I want to spend my life with you. Please. Don't die. Please." Miya started sobbing.

I reached my hand up to her cheek. I put it on her jaw. She leaned her head on my hand as if it was a phone. I felt her shoulders rising and falling from each harsh breath. I felt the tears landing on my hand just before they disappeared into sprinkles of light.

"I promise." I said. I know I can't make promises. I've made a promise to Ryan that I would get him out of Afghanistan even if I wouldn't. I failed him. I failed Taylor. I just didn't want to see Miya cry like this.

"I promise."

After that, she lifted my head once more and set it down onto the wet grass. She was giving me a lap pillow! God, I see more anime cliques the longer I've been here. She laid down next to me. She put her arm on my chest and went to sleep right away. _Might as well get some shut-eye as well. I'm testing my luck and praying to God that some fucker won't kill me or her here._

 **Morning**

"Ahem." I heard someone cleared her throat, which woke me up. I open my eyes slowly. Sunlight stung my eyes way too much. I still have that splitting headache and that feeling that I'm gonna throw up my lunch. Light sensitivity is a bitch in the morning.

But finally, I opened my eyes. I saw the pissed face of Naomi and the watchful eyes of Haru and Hana behind her.

"Shi? Can you explain this?" she asked as she gestured to Miya's arm on my chest and my arm on hers. _Oh fuck._ She caught us. Miya stirred in her sleep and woke up.

Miya rubbed her eyes and yawned. She did not open them though and didn't notice Naomi and the two standing there. She started talking.

"Shi, thanks for last night. I needed that." Miya murmured under her sleep. Now, Naomi's eyes were aflame. _Oh, I'm in it for life now._

I saw Haru snicker, trying to suppress a laugh. Hana's lips tightened as if she was trying to smile.

"She doesn't mean it that way!" I exclaim in a panic.

"This ain't it, chief." Haru ended up laughing. Naomi still glared at me.

I felt my face turn pale as snow as Naomi's turned red as fire. She raised her hand to slap me. _Fuck me._ Wack! The side of my face turned red from Naomi's hand. Haru doubled over and laughed as hard as he can. I give a nervous chuckle and quickly ran back to town. I just let my legs take over.

 **Back in Vulci**

"Oh. My. God. I'm an idiot." I said as I pounded my head against the bridge that gave people a pathway to get across a little stream. _Why did I fall asleep next to her? Why did I let her put her hand on my chest. Why was mine on hers? Why?_

"Lemme guess. Got a little too drunk?" asked a voice next to me. I turned to look. It was Klein, with a smug smirk on his face. I guess that's his whole persona. He's very friendly.

"Yeah. And I got a bad hangover right now." I replied.

"That's what you get for drinking too much."

"Yeah, that wasn't a good idea to drink."

"What happened?"

"I ended up hitting on one of my friends and another caught me with her."

"How drunk did you get?" asked Klein.

"I told you. I got drunk as hell."

"I told you not to do anything stupid."

Klein leaned against the bridge and casually propped his leg up. I opened my inventory and started messing around in there.

"Did you apologize yet?"

Apologize? What is he talking about?

"That chick in the bar you yelled at yesterday. Did you kiss and make up yet?"

 _Right! Naomi! Oh, I forgot!_

"No, I didn't. I forgot."

I tapped on one of the items on my list. A piece of black cloth with a sort of white pattern appeared in my hands. What I was holding was folded into a triangle. It may seem like a bandana, but it was actually something that I kept safe. I wore something like this in Afghanistan, so I kept this thing. It was the only item that reminds me that I have survived 'Stan. This thing that I was holding was a shemagh.

I put the shemagh on my face and put it down to my neck, letting it hang like a scarf.

I kept it as a reminder. It was supposed to remind me that I was a survivor. That I have survived a war zone. If I can survive that hell, I could survive this hell. I just feel guilty for those who didn't.

I put it on in honor of my fallen battle buddies. I guess this is a better alternative to remembering Ryan and Taylor then getting drunk.

"Well, there she is now. Go ahead and do it." Klein got up and walked away. He walked past Naomi, who was approaching me.

"Hey..." Naomi waved a loose hand.

"Hey. Look, I... um... about last night..." I stammered.

"What about last night?" she asked.

"I... uh... I am sorry. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have."

"No, you shouldn't."

"I've acted inappropriately. It's just that... I dunno. I just wanted to get drunk. I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that. I just-" I paused.

Naomi took one step closer to me. I took one step closer to her. She took another step. I took another step. We were now face to face, just staring into each other's eyes. Her light brown eyes surprisingly went well with her blond hair. She tied up her hair up into a bun, with strands of hair sticking out like spider legs. Her rosy cheeks contrasted very well with the rest of her face.

"It doesn't matter now. All that does is that you're here now, and I'm here with you." Naomi reached in and hugged me by my waist. I did the same.

"Remember," she continued, "we're here for you. I am here for you. And I will stay with you until we get out of here. You should never go back to the tavern. At least, not without us."

She put her head on my chest. I put my head next to hers. She was my shoulder to cry on. And so I did. And there went the waterworks.

"There's my baby soldier."

I cried for a solid minute or two.

"You know, you've changed. When I met you, I thought I had to protect you. But now, look at you. You don't need me." I said as I tried to calm down from crying.

"I know that I don't need you, but I know you need me. Even if I had the chance to abandon you for myself, I wouldn't take that chance. I'd stay with you till the end of the line."

"You're not a soldier. You don't need to make these sacrifices."

"You don't need to be a soldier to make these sacrifices. You just have to make the right choice, even if the right choice is the hardest one."

 _Even if the right choice is the hardest one._

"What made you leave Afghanistan and make it back home was the hardest choice you have probably had. Making it back into society was the right choice, and it was probably the hardest one."

"The hardest part was leaving my only friends behind. I left her in the middle of the street, bleeding out and dying. I left him in that ditch, destined to rot. I regret that decision up until this day." I hugged her tighter and cried harder.

People say that the battlefield is hell on earth on the soldier. That ain't the case, though. Hell on earth is found in those trying to move on from the battlefield. Hell on earth is found in those trying to forget the past. Hell on earth is found in our souls, hearts, and minds.

I may have come home alive, but I came home broken. I try to forgive myself, but I can never do that. I guess some mistakes aren't meant to be forgiven.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Remember when I said I would try to post weekly? Well, I probably ain't gonna do that. School's a bitch and all. So yeah, expect the chapters to be uploaded a little slower.**


	13. Reconciliation

**Yo! Author here! Just warning Y'all that there is a, ahem, "scene with suggestive themes" in this chapter. Okay, PSA over!**

* * *

 _ **Reconciliation**_

 **Four years earlier, Marjah, Afghanistan**

"Mount up!" I yell as I climb into the passenger seat of the tan Humvee. The doors to the Humvee were taken out to quickly jump out in case of an attack, so there was sand blowing into the vehicle. Around us, a few dusty buildings riddled with bullet holes had their roofs flattened from the mortar shells I called in a little while ago.

"Fine." replied Ryan as he took the seat behind me. I leaned my gun next to me as everyone else gets in the armored vehicle. I heard the sound of a machine gun cocking as the guy on the gun pulled back the metal handle to chamber a new round. Ahead, a long and winding dirt road showed us the way back to the staging area. Our part in this mission was over. We were going home.

We drove that dirt path until we were ten miles away from the battle. We could still hear the sounds of battle, with the steady drone of machine guns and rifles, along with the occasional explosion. Overhead, an Apache helicopter flew past us to provide air support for the coalition troops back in the city.

This war was the longest war ever fought by the Americans. Starting when those towers fell in September 2001, this war has been raging on ever since I was still a kid. We had been winning the war for a while, but things got worse in 2019. By the time I was in the country, more than half of Afghanistan was back in Taliban rule. We've been trying to gain land back.

 _When will this war end? When will we be out of this hell hole?_ I thought. Questions asking when and why swam in my head. I just wanted to get out. But, as God has intended, not everyone will make it out alive.

Boom! An explosion deafened my ears, its flames heating my skin. The Humvee rocked about, throwing my head forward and back. My ears rang. My vision blurred. I was confused.

I crawled out of the Humvee. I looked back at the person manning the gun. I saw spent brass shells flying from the gun as the private operating the weapon kept his finger on the trigger. I saw everyone else crawl out. They took cover on the left side of the vehicle.

I looked at the other Humvee. Or at least, what was left of it. The gunner was slumped over the mounted .50 cal, dead. One survivor crawled out of the Humvee. His skin turned black as his uniform burned. He flailed about for a bit before falling to the ground, burnt to death.

That snapped me out of my daze. My head started to clear up a bit. _An RPG had hit the back Humvee. I should get to cover._ I thought.

The machine gun rattled on. I crawled back to my seat and grabbed my rifle. I crouched just in time as a flurry of bullets whizzed past my head.

"We need to get outta here!" I yelled.

"We're pinned down! We can't!" replied Ryan.

I looked back to where the machine gun was firing. Ahead, the flat terrain had a few rocks. The muzzle fire of the enemy AKMs, PKP Pechenegs, and SVU Druganovs indicated that we are taking fire. Just off the road was an irrigation ditch. We could use that as cover.

"Private! Cover us! We're gonna move up to the ditch!" I yelled to the gunner.

"Roger that Sarge!" he said as he aimed his gun and fired another flurry of bullets.

I stood up but kept my head down. Everyone else followed suit. I hopped into the ditch and took cover. I looked back to my friends, who had dove into the ditch. One of them wasn't so lucky.

"Ahh! My leg!" one of the privates with me cried out in pain.

The kid fell down just a few feet from the ditch where I was. He laid there, bleeding out from a wound that spurt out blood. That private was one of the new replacements for that other dude who fell out of the helicopter.

I couldn't let him die. I made a promise to get everyone in my squad out of here. I was already fucking up on my promise. I didn't want to fuck it up anymore.

I reached my hand out. Then I started to get a little closer to the kid's body. He had his hand outstretched to me.

"Shi! Get the fuck down!" yelled Ryan as I touched the private's fingertips with my fingertips. Once I did that, a bullet hit his chest, turning it into pink mist. His hand fell down onto the dirt road. Another kid. KIA. I look to the Humvee where the other private was manning the machine gun. Suddenly, a rocket came out of nowhere and blew up the vehicle in a plume of smoke and flames, killing the gunner.

I dove backward back into the ditch. That's where I saw Ryan stick his head out to fire.

"Ryan!"

 **In the present, Vulci**

"Get down!" I scream as I open my eyes. My heart raced and my breathing shallowed. I sat up, panting. _Wait, what happened?_ I asked myself as I felt my body. Instead of feeling my tactical rig, I felt my PJs. _Where am I?_

"Shi! What happened?" asked Naomi as she sat up next to me. I looked at her. There she sat still wearing her undergarments. Wow, she doesn't care that she sleeps wearing that next to some guy.

"I-it was a nightmare. Sorry for waking you." I apologized.

"You were twitching and mumbling in your sleep. I haven't seen you do that before."

"Is that how bad they're getting?" I asked before laying back down.

"I think so. It sounds like you need a break."

Outside, the stark moonlight that had covered the city of Vulci streamed into the dark room.

"I just want to get out of here. This place brings me back too many memories. I don't wanna die here. I didn't even have my first kiss yet." I joked. But, really, I never had a girlfriend. I sorta liked Taylor when I was serving in Afghanistan, but I ain't gonna steal her from Ryan. I was jealous (duh!), but I wasn't all about that. We were bros. I can't just do that.

"Lemme guess. You don't wanna die a virgin?" joked Naomi. I couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah. I've never had a girl. Even though I played quarterback in high school, no one really wanted me. To be honest, I barely even cared." _Until now_ was what I wanted to add, but I just left that out.

"I can help you with your wish."

 _Help me with my wish? What is she talking about?_ I thought. That was the last thing that passed my mind before I found her on top of me.

"Woah, Woah, w-hmph!" I tried to say as I felt her lips against mine. I didn't even fight back. It just felt right at the time. I embraced her and pulled her in tight, feeling her body against mine. My mind went blank when it all happened.

She sat up, sitting on my stomach with her legs tucked under mine. I looked at her. She was blushing with a blank face as if she was debating whether to do something. She looked kinda hot, to be honest. I felt my blood rushing in its veins as I watched her.

"I love you." I heard her whisper under her breath as she descended upon me.

"Wha- hmph!" I exclaim as her lips met mine again. I felt our lips part after a second or two. I heard her heavy breathing in my ear. I wasn't thinking at that time. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing. I was just going along with it.

I felt one of my buttons on my shirt go undone. I look down to see her removing the second button. At that time, I finally began thinking. _Wait, shit! No, I don't wanna do this now!_

"Wait." I murmured. She froze and looked at me.

"Something wrong?" she asked, her cheeks blushing as red as it can get.

"I just... I don't think it's a good idea for us to do this." I said. _And that statement was not a good idea to say._ She stared at me, a fire growing and growing. "I mean, what if Miya walked in?" I nervously chuckled. That did not help the situation. _Oh fuck._ I thought as I saw her hand wind back to punch me, her fist glowing with purple energy.

Pack! "Ow." My world turned black. I was knocked unconscious. But, to be honest, I deserved that. I got some hot chick to make out with me. Am I right? Wait... I think I don't deserve that. She's the one who made the first move. I just went along with it. Yeah, I don't think I deserved that. Oh man, this ain't fair!

 **Morning**

Of course, I woke up earlier than everyone else. Even if I was knocked out, I would wake up at the same time. All thanks to that drill sergeant back in Basic.

I don't know how, but I found myself sitting alone at a table in the tavern with a half-eaten chicken sandwich on my plate. I think I had gotten out of my room so that I don't have to face Naomi about last night. She's probably still mad. For her to stoop down to that level where she was willing to do it and to get rejected in doing so must have left a mark.

"Hey, Shi. How's it going?" a voice got in the way of my thoughts. I turned to look and I saw Asuna standing behind me.

"I'm alright if you count being knocked out from a punch is alright to you." I joked. I gestured them to sit down. She obliged and took her seat at the opposite end of where I was sitting.

"What happened?" asked Asuna.

"Long story, but I refuse to talk about it anyways."

She watched me with her eyes full of intention.

"Let's just say that I woke up screaming and Naomi freaked out to the point where she hit me with a well-placed punch."

"Woke up screaming?" asked Asuna.

"Told you it was a long story."

I took another bite of my sandwich. The taste didn't really feel right to me. But it was all I had since there were no condiments that I could put on my food. Back in the real world, I would douse my chicken sandwich in tomato ketchup. I'm weird that way.

I heard church bells ringing in the distance. Those bells are never rung because there are never any masses being held. I've never seen a priest here in this game. I've never seen even an NPC running a church service. If there is no one running the service, why even bother ringing the bells?

"Church bells? I thought there weren't any services in this game." I asked.

"That's why I came here." said Asuna, "To tell you that you can get help there. Naomi had messaged me at around 2:30..."

"Around the time Naomi knocked me out." I interrupted.

"And she told me that you have been getting nightmares recently. She told me they've only been getting worse."

"Yeah, and?"

She leaned in closer and put her hands on the table. "And I'm worried for you. I am the vice commander for the Knights. That makes it my responsibility to care for the wellbeing of my troops. Now, I think it's my responsibility to help you.

"You are a valuable member of the team. You are the soldier who has seen action and knows how to stay calm in the face of danger. We need you at your best. Please, everyone here needs you."

"What are you gonna do about it?" I asked.

"She told me that you blame yourself about something. She told me it was something bad. I'm just gonna give you advice."

"Which is?"

"Look for help. You can find it in the taverns, in the streets, even on the assault team, although those guys aren't the best guys to talk to."

"Help. That's all people ever fucking say to me. Help. I try to find help. I try to find a way to ease the pain. I try to find a way to help me keep going on. But I find nothing. Nothing! And people keep telling me to keep looking! Well, I've tried! I've tried everything!"

Asuna stared at me dumbfoundedly. I guess that's the accurate response in this situation. She was my superior (even though I was older) and I wasn't the one to yell at one. Her mouth fell agape as she tried to understand what I said.

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't know. Sorry." Asuna abruptly left me alone in that tavern. I guess I need to be alone right now.

I finished the rest of my sandwich and left the tavern. Outside, I made my way north up. When I said that I tried everything, I may have lied.

I tucked my left hand in my pocket and used my right hand to open up my inventory. My finger scrolled and scrolled through the useless shit that I got. My hand paused as my finger hovered over this one item. My main weapon, the Hatchet of the Assassin. I got that weapon from Hana the day she saved me. She didn't really want it. She just uses her spear and knife (odd choice in my opinion). I looked at the item below it. That item was the Goblin Bandana. It was just a huge bandana that I use as a shemagh as a reminder for my time in Afghanistan.

I looked below that item. It wasn't a usable item. It was just a picture file. It read "squad photo". I don't remember taking one. I closed my inventory. Maybe I'll look at it later because I made it to my destination.

I stood before two massive doors with pictures engraved on it. One door had angels with their halos over their heads and their wings on their backs, their heavenly figure flying around in the sky. The other door had images of both war and peace, with swords and shields in front of a field of flowers. I opened the door and walked in.

Already, a mass has been going on. There was a priest in green and white robes preaching to people sitting at the pews. The people wore an assortment of colorful clothing and armor. I saw a couple KoB guys, but I just wanted to sit alone. I found one area with no one to the right of the altar, so I sat down. I didn't even listen to the priest during that mass.

"Go forth and beat this game, for the Lord will be with you all."

After the mass, the congregation was over. People walked out. People passed my aisle. I paid no heed. I just looked down at my hands, wondering if I will ever get help.

I opened my inventory and scrolled down to the photo. When I found it, I opened the file. Up came a picture of my unit before embarking on the mission at Marjah. I was crouching in front of my squad, with Ryan and Taylor kneeling next to me. Us soldiers carried M4 carbines. The dude on the right carried an M249 SAW. I haven't seen this photo ever since I returned from Afghanistan. I just saved it onto my computer. I guess the NerveGear had transferred that file to its hard drive.

Corporal Jack Ryan and Corporal Elise Taylor kneeling next to Sergeant Shijo Hashimoto. I thought I would never see their faces again. Ryan's smug ass and Taylor's bright smile had been the largest smiles out of all of us.

A tear trickled down my cheek. "I'm sorry. I wasn't able to bring you all back to the States as I had promised. It was all my fault. I'm sorry."

I closed the picture and folded my hands. I looked up to the altar, watching Jesus on the cross as he looked down at me. He probably thinks I don't belong here. I don't think I belong anywhere.

"Beautiful, huh?" asked a voice from the pew behind me. I did not dare to look. I don't have to. I knew his voice. It was the priest who was preaching up on the altar.

"Yeah. That's why I don't belong with Him. I'd just mess up the image." I continued staring at the immense cross staring me down.

"The thing about beauty is not the little details, but the bigger picture. A little dirt wouldn't do much harm to an image. But if there is a lot of dirt and debris, then that image would be ruined."

"And what does this have to do with me, Father?" I asked.

"This has everything to do with you, son. You see, life is like the picture. A little smudge here and there wouldn't hurt the picture too much. A little mistake here and there wouldn't hurt the soul too much. But if you learn to pick yourself up after every mistake big or small, then those smudges would go away."

I sighed. Mistakes were made that day. Mistakes that had cost lives. Mistakes that I can never forgive myself for. I opened my inventory again and opened up the picture. I expanded the picture big enough for the priest to see from behind me.

"My, what a close-knit group you have." he commented. To be honest, we were all close. That's why it hurt more to leave Afghanistan without them.

"Do you know what happened to all of them, Father?" I asked.

"No. What happened?"

"They're all dead, Father. They're all dead, and it's all my fault."

My head fell into my waiting hands below, my palms wet from the tears from my eyes. I just cried and cried. I didn't care. Hell, I could just die and I would care. No one would care.

"I was a priest in real life too. I worked with the rich who had no problems whatsoever. When I saw what was happening on the news about this game, I decided to abandon the rich and help the people stuck here. And so I got the game. I jumped in. And I saw what I had to do.

"People are suffering here. I've watched friends and loved ones get ripped from each other's arms. So I vowed myself to help those people. I became a priest. I immediately saw changes in the behavior of the people. The more they saw me, the more they were determined to get out of the game. They worked harder and harder to get to the 100th floor."

"So you're helping people find their second wind. Whereas me... I'm not helping." I said as I sniffled. I felt the priest's figure lean forwards to me.

"What were you doing when you were serving, son?" asked the priest.

"I led a squad. Part of the Rangers, my unit was supposed to take back Marjah four years earlier. I was the only one who came back."

"And what are you doing now?" asked the man behind me.

"I... I am leading my team out of here."

"We're all doing what we have done before. It's just second nature. I was a priest back then, you were a leader back then. I am a priest now, and so are you. We just stick with what we know is a part of us."

I lifted my head, my tears still on my cheeks. "I just... I don't want to make that same mistake that I had done before. I don't want their deaths to be my fault. I don't want them to die. I just don't know what will happen. Will any of us ever make it out alive?"

The priest stayed silent for a minute or two. It sounded like he was trying to formulate the answer. "It's just up to God. This is God's doing. This is His test. All we have to do is to pass it."

"Your soul is guilty of what had happened. Repent, soldier, for He shall be your guiding light."

"But how? I can never forgive myself for what had happened. I just want it all over."

"Have you tried asking Him for forgiveness?" asked the priest.

"No Father, I have not."

"You should try."

I thought about it for a bit. I haven't done this in a while, asking for forgiveness. I think the last time I did it was the week before I enlisted. That must be like a little less than eight years ago? I don't remember.

I made the sign of the cross and opened my mouth to speak. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."

"When was the last time you have come to reconciliation?" asked the priest.

"A long time ago. I don't remember when." I clasped my hands together and held them up.

"Tell me your sins, son."

"Uh, lemme see. I guess I should ask for forgiveness for all the killing that I have done in Afghanistan and in SAO. I seek forgiveness for my mistakes that I have made that had cost lives. I seek forgiveness for when I brought my buddy's sister with me to save him on floor 25. I seek forgiveness for when I ordered a friend of mine to take point back in Marjah, which led to her being killed. And lastly, I seek forgiveness for giving the order to move out, which led to everyone in my squad to die. I'm sorry." I broke into tears and cried.

"Go forth, for your sins have been forgiven."

I stood up with my head down. I turned around and forced myself to look at the priest. His swept black hair blanketed his head as his wide English eyes stared back at my Japanese eyes. He stood up as well. A friendly smirk formed on his mouth. I couldn't help but smirk as well.

"Thank you, Father." I leaned in to hug him over the pew. He hugged me back.

We released from our hug with his hands on my shoulders. "Now, I was talking to some of the assault team players earlier. There's a boss raid forming later today. Go ahead and beat this game for us all."

I saluted. "Sir, yes sir!" I quickly left the priest inside the church and made my way to the meeting.

 **Five minutes later, in front of the boss room**

I ran as fast as I can through the dungeon. I ran past monsters in my way, ducking and weaving past clubs and swords. I ran and ran until I made it to the boss room.

Two torches light the entrance to the room. A brass door stood in the way of the masses waiting to clear this floor. The stone walls gave the scene a sort of mysterious look. I ran up next to Naomi and Miya, out of breath and wheezing.

"Finally, you made it." Miya jabbed. I smiled.

"Where were you?" asked Naomi.

"Church."

"Seriously?" Haru chuckled.

"Yeah." I answered.

Naomi leaned a little closer. "Are we gonna talk about last night?" she asked.

"What about last night?"

Naomi smiled. I did too. I drew my hatchet as I got ready for the fight ahead. A few seconds later, the door opened and the crowd surged forward.

I was back in the fight. I will never forgive myself, but at least I can sleep at night knowing that I am fighting for everyone here.

I'm a soldier. I have to fight. I am a Ranger. You all know what I say. Even if the way is unclear, I still lead on.

* * *

 **A/N: You know, I noticed that I put religion and Christianity in my stories. Unlike the other stories on this site, I actually put religious stuff in my stories. I sorta feel weird doing it. I just think it adds another layer to my characters. If y'all don't like that, just tell me. I don't know if the people on FanFic think this is a sensitive topic. In other news, I just put that scene after Shi's nightmare because I just feel like it. Fuck it. Why not? That was probably not a good idea. *awkward silence intensifies* Anyways, thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more!**


	14. Verloren Hoop

_**Verloren Hoop**_

 **January 13, 2024; Floor 52: the Oasis of Ashryn**

"Ugh, we've been walking for miles now." complained Haru from the back of the group. I agree with him. My legs ache as well. Jeez, we should have come to the camp by now.

"Stay on your toes. We're almost there now." I commanded. _Where are they? Let's hope we get to the camp before any more fuckers show up._

The rustle of leaves filled the air as the sun streamed into little beams as they passed the canopy. The tall palm trees offered us shade from the heat, allowing us to go on with our hike.

Suddenly, the sound of rustling leaves intensified as a figure jumped out of the bush to my right. The figure tackled me down to the ground and pinned me down onto the dirt. My head hit the ground pretty hard, dazing me. But when I got my bearings, I did a special move that I learned in Basic. I grabbed hold of the attacker's waist and threw him to my right. Then, I jumped on top of him and held down his arms so that he wouldn't be able to fight back.

"Stay the fuck down, bitch!" I yell into his face as he squirmed to get out from my grasp. The man under me had black hair and black clothes. The pointed elven ears stood out from his bowl cut. His eyes were wide in fear. He wore a black suit with silver armor on top, with a purple cape held by clips on his shoulder. He looked sort of young.

"I wilt not stayeth down!" he screamed back, his Shaksperean slang annoying the fuck out of me.

One of his hands left my grip, his arm reaching down to his belt. "Watch out!" I hear Naomi's voice call out, but it was too late as a sensation of a jab to my ribs made me jump off the hostile person, who stood up and ran away. I watched him run into the foliage ahead.

"Shi!" Naomi and Miya kneeled down next to me.

"I'm okay," I said, "I'm alright."

I look down at my side. The hilt of a dagger stuck out of my side, red cartoon blood spilling out of my torso. I grabbed the blade and pulled it out, then tossing it aside.

"Should we call this in?" suggested Haru, who stood over me with Hana next to him.

"Yeah. Let's just report him when we get to the camp."

 **Five minutes later**

The camp was just a bunch of tents propped up in a clearing beside a lake. The palm trees offered refuge from the sun above. In the clearing, elven men and women in light green clothing and armor milled around the dark green tents of the camp, either training or reporting to superiors.

On the floor we are on was a desert floor, with a few oases scattered around. The only city where most of the other players stayed was over on the far east side. This floor also featured an ongoing civil war between the Forest Elves and the Dark Elves. There was something like this on floor three, which took place in some sort of forest, where Vietnam-era guerilla tactics were used. Here, it's hard to ambush enemies in the sandhills and plains that formed this floor. Because of the civil war, we were forced to pick sides. Good thing the civil war does not directly force other groups of players to fight one another. On floor three, we sided with the Dark Elves. On this floor, we sided with the Forest Elves, although we try not to say that we fought with the latter.

Naomi and Miya flanked me while Haru and Hana covered our rear. As we approached the camp, a few of the elves noticed us and approached us, some carrying an assortment of clubs and swords. They held it up in defense. They all had blond hair and blue eyes, their skin white, but not albino white. Their ages looked like they ranged from late-teens to mid-forties. In reality, however, they were really about one hundred to three hundred years old apparently.

"State thou business!" one elf man called out. That slang is gonna get on my nerves real quick. But when I heard his voice, I tensed up. Soon, we were surrounded by sword and club toting elves.

"We're friendly!" I said, raising my hands up to show I carried no weapons. I looked behind me. My allies just stared at me. I made a little motion with my arms and did something with my face that pretty much said: "Do the same!". It took them a little bit to figure out what I meant, but they ended up raising their hands in the air as well.

"We come from Camp Ratha! We're friendly!" I called out once more. I felt the tension fade away as they dropped their stance. One man approached me, his hair blonde. His face made him look to be around fifty, the wrinkles reminding me of Heathcliff's face. His hair was tied neatly into a ponytail. His blue eyes radiated power and energy. His blue tunic and white pants were tied to his waist with a belt.

He must be the camp elder. Each camp has an elder, who acts like the colonel of the entire camp. He is in charge of all of the operations of these guys here.

"You must be the human mercenaries that are supposed to help us around here." the man rasped.

"Yes, sir." I saluted him like I would any superior. My buddies didn't do the same. They ain't military, so they don't have to. "My name is Shi, this is Naomi, Miya, Haru, and Hana, and we're ready for orders!"

The elves that surrounded us whispered among themselves. They probably think I'm just an ordinary civilian, not a soldier. They wouldn't expect your average joe to salute some superior. I dropped my hand.

"Excellent. Since you are ready for orders, please come with me." The man started to walk away.

"Wait." Haru called out after him. The man turned around to face us.

"Yes? What is the matter, child?" asked the man.

I snickered. Haru hates being called a child. He gets pissed every now and then whenever I call him a kid. The kid's probably embarrassed to be called child right now, even if he's 15.

"Stop acting like that or I'll make him call you child." Naomi pinched my right arm. To be honest, I could feel that type of pain. I shrugged my arm to get her fingers off of it.

"Fine." I whispered back.

"On our way here, we were attacked by a Dark Elf. He was probably a scout." explained Haru. Hana, of course, stayed silent.

The man motioned his hand as if to point into the woods. Two of the Forest Elves ran off in search of the scout. He then started walking back to the camp. We followed him.

Each oasis had a camp. Basically, the war is a war of resources. On this floor, it's almost a barren wasteland of sand, where the only resources available are in the oases scattered around the floor. The point of the war is to control as many oases as possible. It's like that Conquest game mode on Battlefield or Domination on Call of Duty. The side that controls all of the oases on the floor will be able to starve out the enemy and force them out. It then becomes a war of attrition.

That's why it was odd when these elves asked us to secure a maze of caves a couple miles north of this camp.

We found ourselves in one of the olive green tents. There were a couple tables with maps strewn across them. The wooden supports of the tent stood in the middle. A couple of cots were tucked away in the rear corner of the tent. It reminded me of one of those old World War Two tents. Outside, the sound of men and women working filled the air.

"Uh, sir, what is the significance of these caves, anyway? They probably use it for storage, so why bother doing this?" asked Naomi.

"Because, human, these elves have a massive force of orcs and goblins. They use those monsters to attack supply convoys that we need." the man, whose name is Hodor Rey Marceau, explained while pointing at the map.

"And you want us to get rid of these monsters trying to starve your guys out?" asked Miya.

"Precisely."

"Why don't you just avoid those caves? Save us the trouble." suggested Haru.

"We can't just ignore a certain outpost and not expect any resistance." I explained.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"When I was serving in Afghanistan, convoys kept getting under attack by these guys who were operating from an old Soviet warehouse. We decided to go around the outpost and make other arrangements. Those fucks apparently moved to meet us at our new routes. They were getting way too annoying so we dropped a JDAM or two on their heads."

"So you're saying that we should just get rid of the threat entirely instead of going around it." Haru concluded.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. Might as well gun down a seemingly harmless group of enemies to make sure they are harmless."

"Wow," said Haru, "That's a really... dark way to say it."

"But yeah, that is basically what we're doing. Just for a reassurance."

"But, you're ending lives that are probably innocent."

"Who cares? We're killing NPCs anyways. It's not like they are actual people." I said. I sounded like I have a cold heart but this is true. We're just killing digital people who are probably just a couple lines of code in a digital game that is made out of code. The only people we shouldn't kill is actual players with actual lives.

"I just... don't feel comfortable with this. We're killing people who have nothing to do with us." Miya stated.

She did make a point. Why do we even care? There's really no reason to do this. We're only doing this for the money. That's it. But I didn't want to say anything that sounded like we were actual mercs. That would just sound cold-hearted.

"They're not people, they're NPCs. They are made to mimic human interaction, but they aren't human at all. Not even close."

"I just... I got a bad feeling about this anyways."

"You've probably killed some of the LC fucks." I said. Miya is not the type to kill someone unless she's defending herself. She's not the one to harm a benign fly, but she will kill a person if she has to.

"That was different. Those guys are psychopathic murderers who deserve to be killed. These guys we're facing now are just another faction in another war that is not ours."

"I assure you, child, those elves you face are not human. They are monsters who deserve to be in cages." Marceau spoke up.

The tent fell silent for a few seconds.

"So, let's take a vote. If you want to go, raise your hand." I stated. Naomi and Hana's hand both went up at the same time.

"Okay... Who votes no?" I asked. Miya and Haru's hands go up at the same time. They exchange a glance at each other. I saw Miya flash a little smirk to him. Haru's cheeks turned red.

Two votes yes and two votes no. I hate being the deciding vote. Let's just say that my last voting experience got me fucked up.

"Uh, how are we gonna decide?" I murmured.

"Rock Paper Scissors?" suggested Miya.

"Okay." Naomi said. The next thing I knew, the sound of fists hitting their palms in rapid succession filled my ears. The look of determination on Naomi and Miya was sort of cute to look at. These two girls always compete for some reason. They arm-wrestle and gamble on something. They are so determined to best each other. So far, Naomi is up 12 out of 23 wins in arm-wrestling, but she also owes Miya 100 Cor from all that gambling. They'd do anything competitive.

The way their faces twitched in anticipation was fun to look at. Seeing their perfect imperfections when they contort their faces lightens up my day a little. Also, it's funny to watch the two girls do silly things like this. I don't know why, but I don't care.

Miya ended up losing in a fire. She lost all three rounds.

But, I guess that means that we're doing this mission or quest or whatever you want to call it.

 **One hour later, one mile north of the oasis**

The sun up above was beaming down on us. It was hot as we walked this rocky road in the middle of nowhere. The sands were flattened down to dry ground. There was a ditch running alongside the road. I don't know, but this place reminded me of something. That memory was nagging me at the back of my mind.

"Are you sure we are gonna do this?" asked Miya.

"Yeah. They're just NPCs. Now can you please stop asking? You've been repeating that question ever since we left." I replied.

"But they're-"

"Lemme guess, they're your friends too?"

"I see that happening." stated Naomi.

"Hey!" exclaimed Miya. I chuckled. When I looked back at Miya, I saw her crossing her arms and pouting. I smirked a little. She stuck her tongue out.

I looked back at Naomi. She just smiled at me when I looked at her.

"Ugh, I don't wanna be walking anymore." Haru complained yet again.

"Haru, you're a pain in the ass." I said.

"But-"

"Oh my God, you are lazy as hell." I groaned.

As soon as I said that, an arrow whizzed past my face. I fell down with my hands over my head. Everyone else had also hit the deck as a flurry of arrows flew over us. I looked to my right and saw the ditch. I rolled onto my back to face everyone and motioned to the ditch. The girls quickly crawled to cover, but Haru stayed in a fetal position with his hands over his head, frozen in fear. His eyes were wide as adrenaline rushed in his veins.

"Haru, get over here!" I yelled as I started to roll to the ditch. I rolled myself into the ditch, landing on my back. I saw the girls keeping their heads down. I poked my head out and saw Haru on the road, an arrow in his chest and his hand outstretched towards me. When I saw his face, I saw that young private who had died on that road.

 _Not now, Shi!_ I thought to myself as I forced myself to stand up a bit to grab Haru's hand. I dragged him into the ditch and took out the arrow out of his chest cavity. A red mark signifying that he was hit formed on his chest.

 _Wait a second. I don't remember bows being in this game,_ I thought. The only projectiles that I remembered here were throwing daggers. Bows and arrows are not available to players. Then, I remembered that NPCs can use bows and arrows. It was probably enemy elves trying to kill us.

Another hail of arrows blotted out the sky, pulling me away from my thoughts. Those arrows landed all around us. I raised my arm to protect my eyes as the projectiles came down upon us.

"Alright! Get up and run! Follow me!" I yelled as I stood up and started running. I assumed everyone else started to run as well.

 **Later, the Caves of Rina**

"Holy fuck, that was close." I gasped for air as I collapsed against the cave wall.

"You could say that again." added Haru.

"Did they follow us?" asked Miya, who's chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath.

"No, I don't think so." answered Naomi, who sat down next to me. I could tell Miya was jealous because she refused to make eye contact with Naomi. I still remember she told me that she loved me, so I try to toy with her just to mess with her.

I looked at Hana. "Check to see if they did follow us, will ya?" I asked. Hana gave a simple nod and ran off into the direction we came from. I looked back at the cave. The sandstone walls darkened the farther you look.

"So," asked Haru, "we're going back into a cave?"

"Oh fuck," I murmured, "going into caves is gonna be the death of us."

"Remember the wolf?" teased Haru.

"Oh, up yours!" I exclaimed.

"What wolf?" asked Miya. _Oh right, I forgot to tell them._

"The last time Hana, Haru, and I went into a cave, I almost got my arm bit off by a wolf. I have really bad luck when it comes to caves."

"What do you mean?" asked Naomi.

"In 'Stan, my unit was sent to secure a series of caves. None of us got hit, but it was really nerve-racking when you're stuck in a damp, moist place with no way of seeing anything without nods. I never knew what could happen."

"Scaredy cat." Naomi smirked.

"Shut up, it was dark and I wanted my mommy." I quickly replied. The girls started laughing. I laughed too.

Hana strolled back, spear in hand.

"Anyone?" I asked the LC player. She shook her head no. No one followed us. That was good. At least we wouldn't get this entrance blocked off if shit hit the fan. I stood up and faced the cave once again.

"We going now?" asked Haru.

"Yeah. Anyone got a light?" I asked.

"Nope." replied everyone.

"I guess we're going in blind, then." I started walking into the cave.

This place gave me the creeps. The dark was unnerving, to say the least. I don't know if there is someone hiding behind this rock or that. I hear Miya stumbling a lot, creating echoes in the damp cave.

Suddenly, though, we somehow made it to a fork in the path, with two ways branching off into different directions. I was just thinking that we should just flip a coin and try to take a guess where the majority of their forces are, but I don't wanna waste time if we get to a dead end.

We decided to split up. Naomi and Miya took the right path whereas Haru, Hana, and I took the left path. It was probably not the best idea, but I just wanted to cover more ground.

"So," I said to break the growing silence as we walked down the path, "I don't really know what y'all's lives were like before all this. All we really talk about is what's going on now. Did you have a girl back home, Haru?"

"No, but I liked someone. I guess I did try to get her by singing."

"Singing?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yeah. I usually stayed after school for the music club. I brought my guitar whenever I went to school. Each morning, in the courtyard, I would play and sing a song to get her attention."

"Lemme guess," I joked, "it didn't work?"

"Oh, screw you!" Haru exclaimed. I laughed.

"How good were you on the guitar?" I asked.

"I'm pretty good. My papa taught me how to play by strumming and finger-picking. He taught me how to sing while playing, and he taught me how to get the girl's attention with it."

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah. Though it didn't get the girl in the end." Haru chuckled.

"Well, at least you tried."

"Yeah."

* * *

 _POV switch: 3rd person following Naomi_

Miya walked in silence along the cave with Naomi following her. Their footsteps echoed through the dark cave. To the both of them, the silence was slowly driving them insane.

"So," Miya said to keep her from going psycho from the silence, "how is Shi, by the way?"

"What do you mean? Half of the time, you're with him." Naomi replied. She looked at Miya as she spoke.

"Yesterday, before we entered the boss room on the floor below us, you said something like 'Are we gonna talk about what happened last night?' What were you talking about?" asked Miya. She heard what Naomi had said before going into the boss room that led to this room. That question was stuck in her mind the entire time.

"Oh, that? That was just nothing." Naomi tried to dismiss the conversation quickly. She looked away from Miya to hide her blushing face. And indeed, her face was as red, as if someone smeared paint on her face. She was blushing that hard. She didn't want Miya to find out what she tried to do with Shi.

Miya stopped walking. Naomi noticed and looked back.

"You're lying, aren't you?" Miya said softly. Naomi wouldn't have heard her voice from where she was standing if the caves did not echo any sound.

"I'm not lying, Miya. It really was nothing. Nothing happened that night." Naomi rebuked defensively. She tried looking away from Miya's laser-beam glare. She couldn't meet her stare.

"If you're not lying, look me in the eye and tell me." Miya demanded, not moving a muscle.

Naomi couldn't look her in the eye and tell her for some reason. She tried to meet her gaze, but her eyes wouldn't budge. She just settled on looking at her nose.

"I swear, I'm not lying."

"You are!" Miya exclaimed, her voice echoing down deep into the cave. She tried to keep her cool, but she couldn't hold it anymore. _What happened that night?_ was the only question that clouded her memory.

"So? What if I am? Why does it matter?" Naomi snapped. Miya just held her stare. After a couple seconds, Naomi gave up trying to reason with her. She looked down and took a deep breath. She let out the air from her lungs quickly.

"I... tried to sleep with him." Naomi confessed. Miya just stared back at her.

"W-why? Why did you try...?" Miya's voice trailed off.

"Why do you even care?" asked Naomi.

"Because... I... love him. I love him." Miya said.

"What?" Naomi murmured under her breath.

"I love him!" she yelled.

"I love him! I love how he sets his life aside for you! For me! For Haru and Hana! For everyone else in this game! When he died a year ago, Shi took me in! It feels good to be with him!"

"Miya, I-" Naomi started to speak before she heard a scream.

* * *

 _POV switch: 1st person_

"What about you?" Haru asked, "Did you have a girl back home?"

"I liked this one chick in my squad when I was serving in Afghanistan. Couldn't really do anything about it." I said.

"Why?"

"Because my best friend got to her first." I smiled.

"Oh, that's gotta hurt!" Haru laughed.

"Heh, we agreed that the first one who gets her goes out with her."

"Looks like you lost."

"Yeah." I chuckled.

"They still going out?" he asked.

"I... don't wanna talk about it." My voice trailed off.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"No worries. I'm getting used to it."

Hana, who was walking behind me, grabbed my arm. I looked back to her. She had her finger over her mouth. She then motioned to her ear as if we had to hear something. I closed my mouth and held my breath, hoping to hear what she was hearing. It could be danger up ahead.

It was pretty faint, but I heard something. I could barely hear it, but to be sure, I took out my ax and got ready to take on whatever was in our way.

"Shit, I hear that." Haru commented.

"Same here." I replied.

I heard the faint roar of a crowd. They were all cheering and jeering.

"I don't like this." Haru spoke up.

"Let's go check it out." I suggested. Haru grabbed my arm and tugged it so that I faced him.

"Are you crazy? That could get us kiled!" Haru harshly whispered.

"Well, today is a good day to die." I started approaching the sound, not knowing what I was facing.

I didn't know it was a whole fucking army that we faced.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello y'all. I guess I'm just gonna post chapters every two weeks because fuck high school. Too much work and all. Also, if you noticed, I started putting the names of the chapters at top. Just a minor detail. Anyways, Christmas is coming up. And when Christmas comes, semester exams follow. I might not post a new chapter until after the 25th. So, just if I don't post, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!**


	15. Prisoner

_**Prisoner**_

"Man, get your fucking hands off me." I squirmed as two Dark Elves flanked me and held my arms behind my back. A pair of bulky handcuffs kept my hands behind me, rendering them useless. I reluctantly take another step forward. The sounds of chains rattling echoed throughout the cave as I struggled to break free.

The cave that these fucks were walking me down was lighted with a few torches glowing orange hues here and there. Bars of the empty cells looked like teeth of a monster about to swallow me whole. Outside, I heard the roar of what I think is a crowd yell "Kill!" at one point, with a shriek in the next second. The crowd cheered on for the entire day.

I somehow struggled hard enough to break free from my captor's grip momentarily, but I lost balance in the process. I tripped and fell forwards. I winced in pain and closed my eyes.

"Shi?" I heard a woman's voice in my left ear. I opened my eyes and looked towards the voice. There, I saw Naomi clutching the bars of her own cell.

"Naomi?" I asked.

"Shi, thank God you're alive!" she exclaimed. I smiled momentarily, then felt the rough hands of my captors grab my arms again and pull me upright. A third guard walked ahead of me and opened the cell next to Naomi's. The two other guards brought me up to my feet. I felt the sharp tip of a blade nudging me forward. I started struggling again.

The two guards gripped my arms tighter, holding me still. The third guard went behind me and unlocked my cuffs. The chains fell to the floor, my wrists being free from those bonds. I struggled even more, but I couldn't break free from their grip.

They shoved me into the cell and quickly closed the cell door before I could get out. I was locked in. The cell was lighted by the torches outside. A barred window viewing the little arena had sunlight streaking in from an open roof above. Inside the cell, though, there was nothing but a small cot. Haru and Hana sat on the cot, not talking.

"You bastards! You'll never keep me locked in here!" I yelled to the leaving elves. They paid no heed. "Damnit!" I roared as I punched the bars with my fists, a purple hexagon popping up and saying "Indestructible Object".

"Damn, you're so worked up." Haru commented.

"I just get a little claustrophobic at times." I stated, "That cave in Afghanistan really fucked me up."

"That seems reasonable." I took a deep breath to calm myself. _Okay, Shi. You've been stuck in many jams. This is only one._ To settle down, I decided to call roll and see who is here.

"Hey, Naomi, is Miya with you?" I called out.

"Yeah, she's here." Naomi replied. I heard Miya call out "Here!" as soon as I asked. I relaxed a little. The more of us here evens the odds of us getting out of here alive. Though that also means that there can be more of us dead.

"Well, at least we're all together." I said, looking back to Hana.

She was tucked in the dark corner in a fetal position. She just remained frozen like a statue. But, I noticed something that was off. Usually, her eyes would be as dull as stone, but now they were conveying emotions I've never seen her convey before. A look of despair and fear made this machine of a person look more... human.

 _I've never seen her like this._ I thought. _Maybe being in a cell unnerves her just like me._

I walked over to her. I squatted down next to her and tried to comfort her. "Hey there." I said. She paid no heed and stared off into space. I tried to touch her shoulder, but she quickly moved her arm away from me.

"J-just g-get away from m-me." she stammered meekly, her voice tainted with terror. She looked at me with wild eyes. I met her gaze. Her eyes were wide open. She cowered into the corner. I tried to approach her, but she backed up even more.

"Hana."

"Just get away from me!" she screamed. I backed off. I saw tears welling in her eyes. Her body was shivering. She tucked her head down into her legs and did not speak anymore. _I guess I shouldn't try to help now 'cause I'll just make it worse._

I looked at Haru. He just shrugged his shoulders like he didn't know what to do.

The sound of sobs behind me pulled me out of my mind. I stood up and walked to the bars of the cell. In the cell across the hallway, I noticed there was a figure in the dark, its silhouette violently rising and falling as if he or she was crying. The person wore a pair of green leggings and tunic. It wore a red scarf underneath its long blond hair. Long pointed ears jutted out the side of its head.

"Umm, hello." I called out to the figure.

"I don't want to die." a feminine voice sobbed.

She moved. The figure rolled over to show a young looking elf that looked around 15. Her blue eyes were red from crying. Tears streamed down her eyes.

"Hey." I tried to sound calm. To be honest, though, it was hard for me to do that, given the circumstances. I get really claustrophobic when there's no way out of somewhere.

"Please, I don't want to die." she sobbed again.

"Hey, hey, no one's gonna die. You'll be alright." I tried to get her to stop crying to no avail. She just cried even more.

This crying is not helping this situation. I wanted her to stop crying so I can think. I just wanted her to shut up.

"We're all gonna die. There's no point in fighting anymore." she said, hope vanishing out of her voice.

"What's your name?" I asked, trying to change the subject from dying.

"My name?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm Shi. What about you?" I tried to put on a convincing smile. I guess it worked.

"My name is Tuka." she replied.

"Tuka, you are not going to die." I assured her.

She looked at me with her blue eyes red from bawling her eyes out. "Promise me?" she squeaked.

 _I'm probably gonna have to fight her in the arena. She's just an NPC, so who cares if I kill her?_

"I promise nothing is gonna hurt you." That was most likely a promise I will break. Maybe all this is part of the quest or mission or whatever you want to call this.

I grabbed hold of the bars and leaned against it. Tuka just tucked herself back into a ball and stayed like that for a while.

"Yo Naomi. Miya." I called out to the girls in the cell next to us.

"Yeah?" they responded simultaneously.

"Y'all ok? It's awfully quiet in that cell. I would've expected that you two were pulling each other's hair out." I wouldn't trust Naomi and Miya to be alone in an enclosed space for a long amount of time. I wouldn't do that because I know the next time you see them, one has the other in a chokehold. I actually did find themselves in that position at one point. It took forever to pry Naomi's arms from Miya's neck.

"We're fine." they responded again simultaneously. The way they replied at the same time sent shivers down my spine.

"Well, do you have an idea on how to get outta here?" I asked. I couldn't think of ways to get out.

"...Teleport Crystals?" responded one of the girls after a long moment of silence. _Oh... I'm a fucking idiot. I forgot about those little fucking cubes._ Those crystals are last resort lifesavers. They were a gift from God.

I opened my menu and looked into my inventory. I set my items up in my inventory so that they would not bunch up into one option. That was not a good idea. Scrolling past the picture file and my weapon, past the shit ton of potions a certain someone bought for a certain mission. _Hell, I think I still have most of the potions that she bought that day._

Finally, I passed the 675 potions that Naomi and Miya bought on floor 32. Scrolling through all that shit just to find that you need. It was like trying to find non-Smut fanfic stories in the Rainbow Six section of that website Ryan would go on to write his stories about his weeb-ish obsessions of his waifu. Shit, this dude was so into anime that you can never leave him alone with a computer without seeing the FanFiction-Dot-Net tab open.

 _Mental note: sell those potions and to change that setting in my inventory back to normal the moment we get back to town._ I tapped on the option that said "Teleport Crystal". A blue glowing cube appeared in my hands. I've heard rumors about anti-crystal zones, where crystals won't work in that area, but it's most likely just a rumor. This will work.

I held my crystal in front of me, its glass-like texture cold in my hands just like my heart towards NPCs. "Teleport Ashryn!" I called out. I expected the crystal to shatter in my hands with a flash of light before opening my eyes to find myself back at that oasis. It didn't work. I was just standing there like an idiot yelling at the Tesseract.

"Nothing happened." Haru laughed. _So this must be one of those anti-crystal zones Kirito was talking about. I could tell he didn't really like talking about it._

"I guess we're stuck here." I sighed. _Christ, what are these guys gonna do to us?_

"They're gonna force us to fight." a voice rang out in the silence. I looked to where the voice came from. It was Tuka, who was now laying on her back with her hands clasped over her stomach. Tears still streamed down her face. "They're gonna make us fight in the arena until there is one man standing. Then they kill that last person. It's just torture. What's the point in fighting anyways? We're all gonna die."

That sounded like what those Laughing Coffin fucks would do when they capture a few poor assholes. Those psychos love to torture their victims both physically and mentally, breaking them down into a sad heap of flesh ripe for the killing. They were almost as bad as the CIA. Almost.

"Do they really?" I asked under my breath.

I looked back to Haru and Hana. Haru was laying down on the cot with his arms resting under his head. Hana was still in the corner, cowering in the darkness. To be honest with you, I was really worried about her. Usually, she won't talk unless she needs too. She is usually the fighter that we need. I'm afraid that she will snap and go over the edge. I mean, I've seen other soldiers in other squads break down in the middle of a firefight, ultimately getting killed or wounded. God, those kids never stood a chance.

"We're gonna have to find a way outta this place, you know that, right?" asked Haru. I saw a little smirk creeping onto his face.

"Yeah," I said, "I guess we have to."

"The thing is, we can't pull an El Chapo and dig a tunnel to get outta here. The game parameters make this ground immortal." Haru noted.

"Yeah, that's true." I opened my menu to try to think of a way out. I looked in my inventory and saw my ax. That was when I came to the realization of a rough plan.

* * *

 _3rd person, the other cell_

Miya paced back and forward. She didn't know why she felt this way. She didn't know why she was angry at Naomi for trying to, um, improve her relationship with Shi. There was no way she could ever really amount to Naomi, who had that sexy bad girl attitude and the looks and body to go with it. _What's the point? To him, I'm just a little girl in way over her head._

Naomi, who was watching Miya have a small mental breakdown from the cot she was laying down on, felt a little sorry for the poor girl. Again, like Miya, she didn't know why she felt this way to her, especially with the little rivalry going on between them.

"Seriously, don't make a big deal over this." Naomi spoke up in the silence. She just wanted Miya to stop prancing around. She was doing this ever since they got captured (quite roughly she might add) by those elf freaks. "You're just overreacting."

"You don't get it, do you?" asked Miya, her voice full of hurt, "You got all that Shi wants. The looks, the curves, the attitude. And look at me. I'm just another thing he has to take care of." Miya sat down at the edge of the cot.

"Well, you got one thing right." Naomi smirked before she looked back at Miya, who was hugging her legs. She looked down looking depressed as ever.

"Too early?" Naomi tried to seem less of an asshole at that point. Miya slowly nodded up and down.

"There's only one reason why I'm here today. It's because of him, Naomi. He picked me up when those guys... you know. He took me under his wing. I just want to be as brave as he is when he's fighting for everyone. You can't understa-"

"I do," Naomi interrupted, "I do understand.

"I felt helpless when I found out I was stuck in this game. Remember the plaza on the first floor? I was there with Shi. I was scared. I didn't know what to do. I just felt like ending it all right then and there just to save me the trouble."

"Why didn't you?" asked Miya.

"Because," said Naomi, "when he asked me to go with him, I saw something. One look at his eyes and I knew everything will be okay. And now look at us. We're halfway through this game."

"I just don't want to die." stated Miya.

"No one's gonna die. You're strong and you will pull through." Naomi promised.

"You know, that's the first compliment you gave me in a while." Miya smiled.

"Remember it. I ain't gonna give more." Naomi adjusted her position on the bed and tried to go to sleep.

* * *

"C'mon! I'm bored! Get the fuck over here!" I yelled down the hallway. I was trying to taunt a guard to come here and try to beat me into submission. I held my weapon, which oddly enough, they didn't confiscate. It was nighttime already. My menu was open and I saw it read 2353. 11:53 PM.

The crowd that I was hearing off in the distance died down a few hours ago. I feel like they are gonna pit us against each other in some sort of gladiator-like scenario. After talking to Tuka, I think that is the most likely scenario.

"It's not gonna work! Just go the fuck to sleep!" called Haru, who was laid next to Hana on the bed. To be honest, I'm surprised that they ain't trying to rip each other's throats. Especially Haru. His shit personality made me think he would frag Hana any chance he can get.

I looked across into the other cell that housed Tuka. Her torso rose and fell every couple of seconds. _I hope I don't fight any one of my squadmates. I don't wanna end up like the tributes in Hunger Games who have to fight friends._

"Yeah, I guess I should." I curled up in the other side of the cell. It wasn't comfortable, but what are the chances of me sleeping anyways. My nightmares keep me awake each night.

My eyes closed slowly. When I opened them again, I saw Ryan's body falling back down into the ditch.

"Sir!" yelled the last surviving private, "They're coming! What should we do, sir?" Panic stained his voice as he shoved another magazine into his M4 carbine. He peeked his head out again with his rifle drawn and fired a couple of quick shots down range before ducking back down again.

I stayed frozen. I didn't know what to do. I just lost my best friend. We were about to be overrun. We were hopeless.

"Sir, watch out!" he yelled as he poked his head one last time. Just as he did, three enemy combatants armed with AKs fired at him. He fired back, killing the last one in the back. He turned around to run away.

That was when his arms shot up in the sky, his gun falling to the ground. He fell to his knees with his arms in the air. Bullets landed everywhere. His limp body fell down on top of Ryan.

"You sons of bitches!" I yelled as I reached into my tactical rig and grabbed some rectangular metal handle. My hands were caked with blood, making it hard to put my finger in the trigger guard.

I align the sights on my M9 pistol and fired as fast as my finger could pull. Firing, I hit one enemy in the head, his limp body falling into the ditch. The other guy was firing randomly in my direction. Click. The magazine ran out of bullets. Lead projectiles hit the ground next to my ear. Miraculously, I wasn't hit by anything. A huge burst of bullets ripped his body up, forcing me to close my eyes.

I opened my eyes and found myself back in the cell. The ambient light of the torches in the hallway had made dark silhouettes on the cave walls. I tilted my head to the left to see if Haru and Hana were still sleeping on the cot. It was only Haru snoring loudly, snorting every now and then. _Jesus, how did Miya sleep?_

I just saw Hana in that same fetal position that she was in earlier. _I better make her feel a little calmer so that she doesn't go nuts. I don't want that on my team._

I shuffled next to the girl. "Hey, you doing alright?" I asked quietly. I sat down next to her, my legs outstretched and crossed in front of me. To be honest, I was surprised that she actually responded.

"I just... I'm sorry about what happened earlier. When I screamed for no reason." Hana tucked her head deeper into her legs.

"Hey, it's alright. You don't need to apologize."

"I am very scared." Her voice trembled in fear. I could tell that our situation is making her very uncomfortable.

"Don't worry. I'm here. This asshole named Haru is there. You'll be fine." I tried making her feel a little better.

"No, you don't understand. Being locked somewhere with no way to get out just... I guess I have an irrational fear of being locked in."

"Why is that?" I asked. Usually, irrational fears arise from past experiences, so finding out what happened might help me help her.

"Because I... When I..." she hesitated. I watched her silently, not saying anything. "My dad hated me. He blamed my mother's death on me. So, whenever I pissed him off, he would grab the closest thing he could find and... you know."

"Shit, did he really?" I asked.

"And when I came out..." _Wait, is she..._

"You're gay?" I asked. I was shocked. If she was, that would explain why she preferred to stay with Miya. I expected an answer, but she didn't respond. It's not like I have anything with gays or anything. Hell, Ryan and I would act gay every now and then for shits and giggles. We gave each other friendly butt pats between dudes.

"The beatings only got worse after that. It felt like every time I spoke, he would get angry. He would lock me in the basement for saying anything. I learned to just stay silent after that." Tears streamed down her face like a river. "That's why I never talk. I'm too scared to talk."

"Hey, you are talking right now." I commented. She stayed silent. "Don't worry. That asshole of a father ain't gonna hurt you here, alright? We're stuck in this game. We just have to get out."

"I don't want to get out of this game. It's not like I'll live to see the end of this game anyways." _It sounds like she gave up hope._

"Well, then why are you fighting?" I asked, "Why don't you just jump off the edge? I mean, if you already think you lost..." _That was a really mean thing to say. I just told her to kill herself. Man, I'm a bad person._

"I... don't know why I'm still here. I don't know why I'm still doing this."

"Maybe it's because you _do_ want to live."

As a response, she pulled back the sleeve on her arm. There was something on her arm I wouldn't expect.

Lines ran across her forearm like a zebra. Her arm was full of scars. And I mean full of them. I could've counted between twenty to thirty lines running horizontally on her dorsal forearm.

The body scan system that the NerveGear helmet had you do when you first start up the game was to touch every inch of your body. Every single inch. Except your, um, special organs down there. Weirdly enough, that's how my avatar in SAO looks like my real body back in Japan.

I guess that the headset picked up Hana's scars.

"How long?" I asked. "How long have you been doing this?"

She pulled her sleeve back down. "About a year before entering SAO. At first, it was small superficial papercuts. The wounds healed without leaving a scar. But, I started going deeper and deeper. I used an envelope opener to cut myself. Now, here I am stuck with these scars on my arm."

"Let me show you something."

I pulled down my collar to expose a part of my neck. I angled my head to show my neck to Hana. I pointed to a small lump of skin that protruded out of my neck.

"You see that?" I asked. Hana shifted a little closer to get a good look.

"That was from a bullet. A 7.62 by 39 rifle bullet from an AK-47. My squad was ambushed in Afghanistan. When I got hit, I felt pain like never before. It hurt like hell, but it felt good for some reason. My best friend was gunned down right in front of me. When I returned home, I thought I didn't deserve to be home. I began hurting myself from the guilt."

I pulled back my left sleeve to show my forearm. Forty little scars ran along my arm. "I tried to remember my kill count from my deployment. Thirty-two of these scars were for people I shot and killed. Eight of these scars represents my squadmates who have been under my command. I got them all killed. It was all my fault. I got them killed."

I pulled back my right sleeve to show an even bigger scar cut horizontally on my wrist. I still remember trying to use my Ka-Bar knife to kill myself. I was just found in a puddle of my own blood on base back in the States, somehow still alive.

"I did this after the dude I saved in that ambush killed himself. I thought that it was my turn to go as well. And so I did." I wiped a tear in the corner of my eye. "My best friend said he didn't wanna leave Afghanistan. He had a dead-beat dad back in New Orleans. He didn't wanna go back because of him. I guess he got his wish.

"I just... I don't want anyone else to do what he did. I don't want anyone to stay in SAO forever. I don't want any more blood on my hands." I wiped another tear from my eye.

Hana didn't say anything. She just went to sleep. I guess I drifted off as well because when I opened my eyes, it was morning already. I'm either gonna have another day stuck in a cage or I'm gonna break out today.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello guys! Just gonna say that if you have read my other story, The Captain, you may have noticed that I reused one character (Tuka) from that story in here. If you haven't read it, be my guest and read it (just ignore how bad the first couple of chapters are, I just didn't know how to write at the time). Also, school is a bitch. Other than that, there's nothing else. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays y'all! Also, Happy New Years!**


	16. Gladiator

_**Gladiator**_

Morning came sooner than I expected. At least, I could tell it was morning because some guards came over to grab someone from his cell down the hall. All the yelling and struggling woke me up.

I lifted my head up to see what was going on. I saw a couple of guards dragging a dude in ragged clothing, who was trying to wiggle out of their grip. The dude kept yelling to get out, but the guards still dragged him away.

"I got a feeling that today is gonna be an eventful one." Haru stated. I looked to my right to see the kid sitting on the cot. I lifted myself and propped myself onto my elbows.

"Yeah. That elf over there in the other cell said that they gonna make us fight. Whatever that means."

Beside me, Hana stirred from her sleep, rubbing her eyes awake. Good thing she was able to sleep. Today's gonna be a busy one. I stood up and walked over to the cell door. I whispered to Naomi and Miya to get their attention.

"What is it, Shi?" responded Naomi.

"You guys doing alright?" I asked.

"We're locked inside this cell. I need to punch something. Yeah, I think we're doing alright." she sarcastically sneered back.

"Okay woman! No need to get so feisty!" I jokingly said in a high pitch.

As soon as I said that, footsteps echoed through the hallway. I also heard the sound of keys jangling around. Maybe there's a new guest joining us here in this lovely Hilton inn.

A couple of guards soon showed up in my view from my cell. Their purple armor glistened in the torchlight.

They both paused in front of the cell in front of mine. One held a bunch of keys around a ring. The other had a short sword in his hand. Inside the cell, Tuka was sleeping soundly. At least, until the guard with the sword banged his blade against the bars of the cell.

Tuka quickly sat up as the guards pounded on the bars to wake her up. I noticed that she had a wild look on her face as if she woke up from a nightmare. But she's just a line of code, so she can't get nightmares. Right?

I looked at Haru, who had stood up next to me to watch these two guys and see if they're gonna try something with us. A look of uneasiness tainted his face. Hana was behind us, still struggling to wake up. _She must be tired as hell because she stayed up last night._

"N-no! Please! Stop! Please! I don't wanna go!" the NPC yelled as a guard unlocked the door and the other quickly grabbed the frantic woman by the arm. She tried to struggle free from his grip, but he wouldn't let go.

"Please!" Tuka turned her head towards us. "Shi! Help me! Please! Please!" Tears streamed down her eyes as the other guard grabbed her other arm and forced her to stand up.

"Move!" the guard barked. Tuka reluctantly took one step forward. "I said move, you bitch!" The guard used his free hand to spank the flat side of his sword against the young elf's back, causing her to let out a feeble yelp.

"We gotta help her." Haru mumbled.

He's right. I should probably try to help her. But how?

 _You stupid idiot!_ I scolded myself. _We should be thinking of ways to get out of here alive, not trying to save someone who is not even real._

"No. She's just an NPC. It doesn't matter if she dies." I mumbled.

"But-"

"But nothing!" I said harshly. "Think of your own ass first."

"No! Shi! Please help me!" Tuka screamed. She wriggled in her captor's arms, but they still forced her to move forward. She screamed and cried for me to help her, but what can I do?

 _Ignore her. Ignore her. Ignore her._ I repeated that chant in my head as her voice faded away.

I closed my eyes as I closed my heart. _She's just an NPC. Just don't feel bad about her._

"Hey, why didn't you let at least be a decent human and react to her?" Haru tested. _Oh, now he's trying to call me a fucking monster?_

I turned around and punched him straight across his jaw. He staggered backward, falling on top of Hana.

"You shut your mouth," I said to Haru, who was trying to get up, "I told you to don't give a shit about NPCs like her."

"Why the fuck not?" asked Haru. His fists were balled up, ready to punch anything.

"Look around you? What was the point of trying to help?" I sneered, "It's not like we can do anything anyways."

Haru took a deep breath. "The next time you are out of line, you better watch your back, you hear?" I scolded. He didn't respond. He just glared at me. Meanwhile, Hana watched this little fight between us. I don't know if she sided with me or him, or if she was scared or not.

The sound of keys rattling brought me back to the cell. I look outside and saw a couple of guards unlocking the girl's cell door. "Shi!" called out one of the girls, "Help!"

 _Not good!_ I grabbed the bars and rattled them to get their attention. "Hey, you!" I barked, "Why don't you let me out instead?"

The guard unlocking the door froze and glared at me. "Do you want to die?" he asked. _At one point, yeah,_ was what I wanted to say.

"What the fuck do you mean?" I asked. The guard pulled the keys out of the other cell door and walked towards ours. He inserted the key into the hole and started twisting.

"Wait, what the..." my voice trailed off. Before I can perceive what was going on, the door opened.

"Wait! Haru! Help!" I yelled as one guard grabbed my arms and forced me down onto the ground. Haru tried to help, but the other guard drew his sword, forcing him to back off. Hana just stared, frozen. She held up a knife for protection, but she was too scared to move. Her eyes fearfully watched as I was forced to stand up with my hands behind my back. I wiggled around, trying to break free from the guard's grip on my wrists. I just ended up looking like a worm.

 **Five minutes later**

"Choose your weapon." one Dark Elf growled. I stood in front of a table with a bunch of blades on top. All of them were broadswords and spears.

The room I was in was lighted by one single torch next to the table, somehow illuminating the entire room. Rough stone walls were painted with red pictures of people being slaughtered by other people or beasts. The room stretched down farther, the light of the torch fading away.

"Thanks, but I'll stick with what I have." I went into my inventory and pulled out my ax. The silver blade was soiled by dirt. I don't care if it's clean or not. Style is not necessary here in this death game.

Although, now that I think of it, I could've sworn I saw the knife that I usually keep right next to my ax in the menu. I just paid no heed because I wasn't exactly thinking straight at that time.

The man pointed down to the darkness. I got what he was saying and walked into the unknown.

Soon enough, light streamed into the corridor. I shielded my eyes as I continued walking down. The roar of the crowd began to fill my ears. As I walked, I saw where I was headed.

Apparently, some sort of arena was carved into the mountain. Above us, a huge hole in the arena had sunlight lighting the area. A circular fighting area was surrounded by rows of a rowdy crowd, ready to watch us kill each other. The place resembled the Collesium in Rome. I wanted to visit that place, but not like this.

About a stone's throw away stood a blonde figure dressed in green. The figure held a metallic bow. When my eyes adjusted, I noticed that it was Tuka standing there. Her eyes looked empty as if she gave up.

I stopped when I got to about 50 yards away from her. A voice boomed from the crowd. I turned to look. In the special spectators' booth, a plump Dark Elf sat in a chair made of stone.

"We have watched as elves tore each other apart yesterday. Now, let us see if humans can put up a better fight!" The crowd cheered louder as he finished that cry.

A couple of guards came out of one of the exits, dragging that man that I saw earlier. They made him kneel onto the hard ground. "And now! A sacrifice!" yelled the dude in the chair.

"No! Please!" cried the poor kneeling man, but a blade quickly came down and decapitated the man. I grimaced, but there was nothing that I can do.

I looked back at the elf standing in front of me. Tuka stared back. "Tuka?" I said uneasily.

Tuka answered by drawing an arrow from a quiver strapped on her back. _Hold up. She gets a bow? Man, this ain't fair!_

I immediately got into some sort of fighting position. _I can't do anything from afar, but she can pop me from there. I don't think she has any blades on her, so I just gotta play my cards right and get close to her._

I immediately snapped into battle mode. I ran right, making a wide berth to avoid any incoming arrows. When I looked back at Tuka, she loosed an arrow. I hopped and the projectile whizzed between my legs. I kept running, her arrows flying over my head. She fumbled with her fourth arrow. Now was my chance to go. I changed direction and charged straight for her.

Tuka glared at me with an intent to kill me. After fumbling for a couple of seconds, she pulled back the bowstring and loosed another arrow. My eyes widened as time slowed down. My survival instincts kicked in and I rose my ax. I slashed the arrow away, the wooden shaft snapping in half. I leaped and brought my ax up. Tuka started moving.

I brought the ax down, but I missed Tuka. The ax dug into the rocky dirt as Tuka lept for safety. Without giving it much thought, I picked up the ax and looked at her. The crowd started cheering louder now. I saw Tuka fumbling for another arrow. _She's probably panicking right now. She can't win in a close quarters fight. Lucky for me, I've been trained in Basic and for one year here in the game. I can beat her. I just gotta stay close to her!_

Tuka loosed another arrow. Her aim was off because it missed by a mile. I ran straight towards her and tried to swing at her. She blocked my attacks with her bow. I swung and swung, my ax flying everywhere. Soon, the ax got lodged in her bow. This was the perfect opportunity to disarm her.

I twisted my swinging arm, forcing the bow out of her hands. The moment she let go of her bow, she reached for my ax. I didn't have enough time to react to it. She grabbed the hilt and pulled as hard as she can.

I guess she didn't have a good enough grip because she threw it aside by mistake. That was an amateur mistake. She didn't take account for any hidden blades on me. I swung a left hook, my fist making contact with her face. She stumbled back, giving me enough time to reach for my boot for my blade. I tried to grab where it was supposed to be, but I grabbed nothing.

I looked down and saw that the blade was gone. _What? Where the fuck is it?_ I shook off my confusion because Tuka charged at me with nothing but her bare hands. _I think she's at that point where she forgot the number one rule of combat. Never lose your weapon._

I raised my hands up to protect my face. Tuka launched a punch to my face, her fists balled tightly. I used my left hand to grab her wrist at the right time and pulled her close. I then proceeded to punch her with my right, using the momentum from the grab to hit her harder.

My fist made contact with her nose. Her head jerked violently back, red blood effects coming out of where I hit her. She fell to the ground hard. I dove on top of her and wrapped my arms around her, pinning her down so she wouldn't move. She tried to wiggle loose, but I kept her in place. I wrapped my legs around hers, but that made me lose grip of her arms. I quickly used both of my arms to grab her wrists. I held her wrists with my left hand, leaving my right hand free.

I looked around for a blade, trying to finish this fight quickly. My eyes soon saw the weapon that I had dropped in our struggle. It was close enough to lean over and grab it. I reached out to grab it. I guess Tuka saw what I was doing because she started struggling even more. Her wiggling was making my arm shaky, preventing me from ending it there.

I looked back at her. She had a wild look in her eyes. She was about to be slaughtered, so might as well make it hard for me. I got frustrated and looked up. I wound my head back and launched it forward, headbutting her in the middle of her forehead. Her eyes rolled back so all I saw was white. I had a few seconds at best to grab the ax.

I leaned over right after the headbutt and reached out for the ax again. I grasped the wooden hilt, feeling the familiar cloth grip that I put at the end of it. I looked back toward the girl under me. I still kept her legs pinned and her wrists bound. I pressed her wrists against her chest. By then, she realized that her end was coming. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"No! Please! I don't wanna die!" she desperately begged. She begged and begged, not wanting to die. Her tears were streaming down her face. _Come on Shi! She's just some code in this godforsaken game. Think of yourself first._

I raised the ax in my hand, ready to strike her down. I was about to bring down the ax to end this thing once and for all. I took one last look at her and froze. _That same fear on her face. I have seen that before._

I found myself at that street corner back in Marjah. A hail of bullets thudded the ground around the lifeless body of Elise Taylor. 7.62 caliber tracers lit us up like a Vulcan minigun on a Black Hawk. I quickly hurried over to the radioman and grabbed the speaker, rifle in hand. The radioman pointed the enemy position on the map.

"Call in an arty on that position!" I yelled at the radioman.

* * *

 **(A/N: What will happen next is what should be a realistic exchange between the radioman and artillery guns. I might have gotten the coorinates wrong, but I don't care. It's a long process, so you can skip it if you want to.)**

* * *

"Yes sir!" he yelled back as he fumbled for the radio that he had on his back. He was our only real link to the artillery guns that we have set up outside of the city before sending troops in. "M10, this is G35, Adjust fire, over!" he yelled into the mic.

The radio squawked to life. "G35 this is M10, adjust fire, over." What the radioman did was that he requested for an artillery barrage.

"Grid ES 923 945, over." The radioman told the artillery operator the coordinates where the enemy was."

"Grid ES 923 945, over." The operator on the other side mirrored what he said.

"Unknown quantity of foot mobiles in buildings, danger close, over!"

"R, F, DPICM in effect, 5 rounds, over." The artilleryman told us that the three artillery guns were firing five shells.

"R, F, DPICM in effect, 5 rounds, out!" The radioman mirrored what he said.

Not fifteen seconds later, the artilleryman radioed in the message saying that the shells have been fired. "Shot over!"

"Shot out! We're ready for 'em!"

"Splash, over!" The artilleryman told us that the shells were about to go off in five seconds.

"Splash, out!" The whistling shells were all we were listening for.

Five seconds later, the shells land right on target. No need to adjust fire.

"Fire for effect! We need one more barrage!"

"Roger that! Shot over!" a voice called back. Within 30 seconds of calling in that artillery, the sound of shells whistling in the air filled our ears again. Boom! Boom! Boom! One by one, the ground and buildings at the end of the street erupted in dirt and debris.

With the enemy confused, I motioned again for my squad to follow me. I turned the street corner, no bullets firing back at us.

One half of the squad crossed the street and pointed their rifles to any place where insurgents could be hiding. In the second floor window, the street alley, the doorway, behind the wall. I didn't want to lose anyone else today. And, well, you know how that turned out.

We quickly made our way to one of the buildings still intact at the end of the street. My guys at the other side of the street looked at me for a command as they kneeled and took up a defensive position. In case we come under fire again, they can dive down on to the ground and hopefully fire back a couple of shots to buy the rest of us time. No one said a thing so that no one would give away our position if the enemy insurgents don't know if we were there.

Using hand signals, I used my left hand and made an O symbol and put it up to my eye, signaling that there is a possible sniper. I then use the same hand and made a sweeping motion towards the door, saying to get ready to breach. Three of us stacked up against the door as the fourth stepped back to kick down the door. "You all stay outside until I tell you! I don't want us to be surrounded inside the house in case we come under fire!"

I nodded to the private standing in front of the door. He ran forward a couple of strides and used his right leg to kick down the door. I quickly entered and raised my rifle to shoot anyone who was going to shoot back. All I saw was a hand and a rifle slowly rising from behind the counter in the house.

With my rifle still pointed at the figure, I moved forward to meet the man. His figure slowly rose and he revealed his face. He looked no more than 20. The young man held in his hands a Dragunov sniper rifle, its hollow wooden stock pointed down and the 10 round magazine out of the mag-well. I was guessing that this was the fucker who killed Taylor.

One of my subordinates entered the house next with his rifle up. He walked over to me and pointed the gun at the man. "The second floor of this place has taken some damage. This guy probably ran down here when the bombs started falling."

"This guy killed Taylor. He's the sniper who took her away from us." I grimaced. My finger was on the trigger and was twitching to pull it back.

"Sarge, we should take him as a prisoner." the private said.

"Yeah," I commanded, "get a couple of zip ties from Ryan. I think I dropped mine earlier." I could tell the private left the building without keeping my rifle pointed away from the kid. I looked out the door, trying to see if anyone else was watching. Most likely not, as I had commanded them earlier to stay outside the house.

No one was looking anyway. I looked back at the kid, who had a fearful look on his face and kept the barrel aimed right between his eyes. The next thing you know, a loud bang was heard through the house. A bright flash exited the gun. A hole formed on his forehead. His head violently jerked back. His body fell over, dead.

I closed my eyes tight, trying to forget his face filled with fear. When I opened them again, I saw Tuka, her face tainted with fear of what's about to come. _She's just a line of code. She's just a line of code. She's just a line of code._

I looked to the dude in the high chair. He was laughing. He stretched out his arm and made a thumbs down sign, saying that I should execute my foe who is laying under me. I looked back at Tuka, then back at the ax, then back to her. _She's just a line of code. She's just a line of code. She's just a line of code._

I raised my ax high above my head. Tuka's eyes widened. She knew what was coming. She knew what was going to happen to her. She knew she was going to be deleted from this fucking game.

"N-no! Please!" she screamed, her voice wobbly with fear. I kept my eyes open. I tried to look her dead in the eye, but I just couldn't. I closed my eyes, trying to remember that this is a game. "No! Stop! Please!" she screamed louder. I tried to use my voice to drown her voice out, but I could still hear the pleas for survival coming from my opponent.

 _She's just a line of code. She's just a line of code. She's just a line of... DANMIT!_ I shut my eyes harder, and I swung. I don't remember what sword skill I used, but I let the ax do its thing. I let both of my grip on her wrists and my ax go. I kept my eyes shut. I couldn't look. I couldn't look at what I did.

I slowly opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the light. I took a shaky breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. I tried to calm myself before looking at what happened.

I dropped my head to look down at Tuka. Tears still came out of her eyes, but she stopped screaming. The ax's blade was just inches from her face. She just sobbed and sobbed.

I don't know why I missed. I don't know if I did it by accident, or if it was intentional. But I did just that. I spared Tuka's life. I looked back up to the crowd and stood up. I did something straight out of that Hollywood movie, raising my arms up and yelling "Are you not entertained?"

A menu popped up in front of me. I didn't summon my menu, so this is just a notification. I squinted my eyes to see what it said. "New goal: Survive and fight your way out of the dungeon."

 _Survive? What?_ I was absolutely confused. In the corner of my eye, I saw another notification pop up. I squinted to see the notification. It read: "Game achievement: To save lives, you have to take some."

At that point, the crowd was so loud, booing me and throwing jeers at me. Like a wave, they took out their blades, angry at my sorry performance as a gladiator. I didn't wait for something to happen though.

I wheeled around and helped Tuka, who was still in shock, up to her feet. I ran over to her dropped bow and picked it up. I tossed the weapon at Tuka. She caught it, but stared at it, as if she didn't know what to do.

You know, for a line of code, I somehow showed some sort of emotion to her. I somehow showed... _empathy_... to an enemy. It's kinda weird to risk my life for a complete stranger, let alone someone who was not alive, but I still did. I guess I'm becoming more and more insane every second I'm in this fucking game. I think I'm losing it now.

But that doesn't matter at this moment. I still want to beat this game (preferably without dying) to get everyone out of this prison called Aincrad. And if I'm going to do that, I gotta get outta here first. And in order to do that, I allied up with someone else.

A third notification popped up in front of me. It read "Current objective: get the keys from the guard and unlock jail cells."

 _I guess I know what to do now._ "Stay close and follow me!" I commanded. Tuka nodded for a second, still shocked from what happened. I picked up my ax and made a beeline back to where I came from.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello again! Sorry for not posting anything last month. I was really busy with school shit and all that other stuff. The IB program at my school is gonna be the death of me. It's making me spend my Saturdays volunteering at a hospital (which is fine, but I can't write). I'm gonna try to make a new schedule posting schedule soon, but just expect the rate of chapters to go down.**

 **Also, since I'm in this IB program, they're making me do a year-long project where I can do whatever that will help either myself, the community, or both. I decided that I'm gonna write a book. Because of that, I might not be able to post more chapters in the meantime. I don't know, I'll see if I can work on both at the same time. I might publish the book on Wattpad and maybe find a real publisher. If y'all want to hear more about it, please let me know. I'd like for some critique on my book so that, when I turn in my work, it'll be my best writing.**

 **Finally, (and I know that this author's note is long as hell now, but bear with me) this quest that I had Shi's squad undertake is longer than I thought. I'll finish the quest up in the next chapter, I promise. Also, one last thing, if you have read my other story, you'll notice that I reused a character. To tell you the truth, I just got lazy in coming up with a name. So, on that note, I bid you adieu**


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